Forever Red 2
by Mikey Is The Man
Summary: Just when an old friend returns into Tommy Oliver's life, a new villianous force arises, intent on destroying Earth's Red Rangers. Now, Tommy must lead the Red Rangers into battle like he did years ago, but this time with new faces in the red ranks.
1. Chapter 1

_My version of a Forever Red 2. This has previously been posted on Rangerboard and Rangercrew, where I go by TwilightRanger, and I've decided to bring it to FanFiction. Hope you enjoy my telling of this story, and don't be afraid to let me know what you think via reviews, if you'd be so kind. Some elements of this story where adapted from the Forever Red 2 posted by Mr. Quinn, which was partial inspiration for this story, so I hope I don't receive any plagiarism comments. So, after the disclaimer, let us begin._

_Disclaimer - I don't own Power Rangers, although the villians are of my creation (I inadvertenly took a name of a video game I didn't know existed for one of them, though)._

**- Chapter 1 -**

- Reefside, CA -

Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver awoke slowly. At first, he grumbled in his sleepy state, wanting another five minutes in his bed, but then remembered what day it was. He sat up in his bed quickly, then eagerly hopped out. He checked out the calendar on his wall, making sure today was the day, and let out a big smile when the big red circle on the present date confirmed it. The source for the smile was the thought of meeting with an old friend, who would be flying in to Reefside later that day.

The high school science teacher headed into his bathroom, and took a quick shower. Afterwards, he brushed his teeth, then shaved, leaving only a goatee extending from under his bottom lip to his chin. He put gel in his short hair to spike it up, then returned to his room, where he pondered what to wear. He decided on a pair of black jeans, and a plain dark-red t-shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror, wanting to look good for the friend he hadn't seen in four years, then added the finishing touch by spraying on some cologne.

He walked down the hallway, glancing at the portraits hanging from the halls, and entered his kitchen. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and tried to solve the maze on the back of the box for the umpteenth time, but this time, he wasn't able to do so, being too excited to concentrate on it. After finishing his breakfast, he put the bowl in the sink, and pulled out his cell phone to call his best friend, Hayley Ziktor.

She picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Hayley. You ready yet?"

"For what?"

Tommy's eyes widened for a second, but then caught on to her tone, realizing she was only joking. "Ha ha, Hayl. Very funny."

"Yep. And yeah, I'm ready. I'll call the others, they're supposed to be getting a ride with Conner."

They said their goodbyes, and Tommy let out a deep breath of excitement before exiting his house and climbing into his black Jeep. He drove for about fifteen minutes, until he pulled up to Hayley's house. He then pressed down on the wheel, honking at her to get out for five seconds straight.

Hayley walked out with an amused look on her face and tone in her voice. "Calm down, boy," she said dryly as she entered the Jeep.

On their way to the airport, they got caught by several red lights. At one of them, a red Mustang pulled up alongside Tommy and Hayley, being driven by Conner McKnight. Riding shotgun was Ethan James, and in the backseat sat the couple of Kira Ford and Trent Mercer.

"Hey, Dr. O," Conner called out to the legendary ranger. Tommy nodded in response as the light turned green.

About half an hour later, the two vehicles arrived at the airport. They parked next to each other, and Tommy was the first out of his Jeep. He was already jogging to the building before the last person was able to close their car door. Once everyone caught up with him inside, they sat down at a small table outside of the terminal his guest would be entering from. The Dino Rangers took this time to ask their mentor and friend a few questions about his friend.

"So, when was the last time you saw her?" asked Trent.

"Four years. Four long years," he replied with a bit of a sigh. "Last time she visited was in the summer of 2003."

"How come she went back to London? Hadn't she graduated already from school?" Ethan inquired.

"She had, but after she'd worked a few shows over in London, she got offered a job at her school. At first, she was unsure whether she should take it or not, since that would mean moving back to live in London, but we all encouraged her to accept it. She'd been a great teacher here, and she'd worked so hard for such an opportunity. We could tell she really wanted wanted it, and in the end, we were able to convince her that should take it."

"So how come you never talk much about her?" asked Conner with a sly grin. "There's a couple of pictures of her in your house. Granted, most of them are team shots, but..."

Tommy frowned at him and what he was doing, and refused to play along. "That's really none of your business."

"He doesn't like to talk about this stuff," said Hayley. "But, there's nothing wrong with sharing, Tommy, for the benefit of those that don't exactly know."

"Come on, Dr. O, We're not your students anymore, we're your friends. We've been friends since the five of us became rangers. So we respect your decision of not telling us, but I think it'd be best if you opened up to us. You've never really told us much about yourself, other than your experiences as a ranger," said Kira.

Tommy sighed, knowing there wasn't a way out of it this time. "Alright, here's the story. After Kimberly, the original Pink Ranger, broke up with me, she was always there for me, and I ended up falling for her. We dated for awhile, and even though our relationship wasn't as long as either of us hoped, we felt so connected. We had so much to talk about, so much to base on, and it wasn't just a high school relationship; it was real, it was love.

When she got accepted into the Royal Dance Academy in London, I knew that I had to make every moment with her last, because I knew what was going to happen. Her last day in Angel Grove, we both decided that a long-distance relationship wouldn't work out, so we broke up."

He didn't think it was necessary to include that afterwards, they held each other for hours.

"That sucks," said Ethan. "So, you think after all these years, she might want to get back together with you?"

The question made Tommy's heart skip a beat. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, she's moving to Reefside instead of Angel Grove, and she's going to be living with you," Trent pointed out.

"She's only staying with temporarily, just until we can find a place for her."

"Alright, but what's your explanation for her moving here instead of Angel Grove? Most of your old ranger friends still live over there, and I bet you're the only person she knows here," said Kira. Tommy's slight frown indicated that she'd stumped him.

"I think you should go for it, Dr. O," said Conner. "We can all tell you still like her. I mean, we were there when she called you to tell you she was moving back to the U.S., and you didn't exactly have the typical 'Yay, my old friend's coming back to town' response; there was a lot more to it. Even I picked it up."

"It's not that simple," said Tommy, his frown growing.

"Dr. O, you're twenty-eight years old. How many dates have you had since you broke up with her over a decade ago?" Ethan asked. Tommy lowered his eyes at this, confirming his suspicion. "Not many, huh? Out of the five of us rangers, you're the only one that isn't seeing someone. Conner and I have been with Krista and Angela since the senior prom, and Kira and Trent have been going out since Kira came back from New York after she failed to make it big in the music industry."

Kira gave Ethan a shove at that. "Just wait and see. My debut CD'll top the charts."

"Anyway," Ethan continued, moving down his seat, farther from Kira. "You need to find your lady love, and there's a good chance it could be her. Just follow your heart, and it'll lead you to her. And 'her', it could be, well, her."

"We tried it once."

"Oh, come on," said Trent. "Why are you denying yourself hope, Dr. O? Like Ethan said, there's a chance that she might want to get back together. So don't shut yourself away from that chance. Besides, it's not like you wanted to break up in the first place."

"Well of course not. I didn't want to lose the best thing that ever happened to me. But I did it so she could follow her dreams."

The six then turnd and saw a horde of people walking from the terminal, carrying luggage. Tommy stood up, scanning through the mob for her, and then he saw her: the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She was wearing dark blue short shorts, and a pink top with a white jean jacket. She was smiling brightly, her blue eyes shining, long blonde hair bouncing lightly with each step she took.

To Tommy Oliver, she was the definition of perfection, being beautiful on the inside and out, flawless in every way possible. She was the woman Tommy Oliver thought about every day.

Katherine "Kat" Hillard.


	2. Chapter 2

- Chapter 2 -

Tommy broke into a job when he spotted her. She put down her bags when she saw him coming towards her, and extended her arms. The two shared an embrace, Kat hugging his neck, as he held on to her waist. They held each other close, with Tommy being able to smell her hair, which had the distinct aroma of strawberries.

When they separated about a minute later, he said with a big smile, "It's so good to see you again, Kat."

"It's good to see you, too, Tommy," she replied, her Australian accent making his heart flutter.

"You look even more beautiful than I remember," he admitted.

"Well, I guess you didn't remember me very well, then," she said teasingly. "Thank you. You look great, too."

The two didn't do anything for another second except to gaze at each other, then he bent down and picked up her heaviest bag. "Come on. I want you to meet my friends."

He walked her to the table where the Dino Rangers and Hayley had been watching the two with grins. "Kat, meet Ethan, Conner, Kira, and Trent."

Kira extender her hand to Kat, who warmly accepted it, but the three guys only stared at her. Kira took it upon herself to elbow the two beside her, effectively waking Trent and Conner, and subsequently snapping Ethan out of the trance as well. They then shook her hand as well.

"And you remember Hayley?" said Tommy, as Hayley stepped up.

"Of course," said Kat, who gave her a hug. The two had met previously during her returns to the U.S., when she and Tommy attended college together. "How are you?"

"Great, thanks. You?" Hayley asked.

"A little worn from the flight, but being back in the States, among friends, I feel a lot better," she said with a quick glance at Tommy.

The group then continued talking as they walked out of the airport, and into the parking lot and their cars. With Hayley now riding with the Dino Rangers in Conner's Mustang, they would stop at the Cyberspace Café, as Tommy and Kat would continue on to his house to leave her stuff. He noticed her looking a little confused as he drove into a woody scenario, past neighborhoods and people in general. Finally, they came to a well-kept house surrounded by trees, and he parked in the driveway.

"Well, this is it. Home sweet home," he said as he stepped out of his Jeep. He grabbed two of Kat's bags from the back as she opened her door. "I know it's a little secluded, but I needed it to be. Did I tell you already?"

She smiled at him from the other side of the vehicle. "I think I recall you saying something about running your Dino Ranger operations from underground, so I'm guessing perhaps your stairs leading into your basement don't stop there."

He grinned as well as he lead her up to the door. "Actually, they do. I have an elevator in the basement that takes me the rest of the way. I'll have to show it to you later, we don't want to keep the guys waiting."

He opened the door to the inside, and the two took her bags to his guest room. Kat took a quick glance around, but didn't have much time to study it as they set her luggage on the bed, then exited the house. The two climbed back into the Jeep, and drove down to Cyberspace. They stepped inside the building, and Kat looked on in awe at the place. She very much liked the retro and cozy design of the café as she eyed the series of computers in one section, and a plasma-screen TV in another, which stood in front of a red couch and coffee table.

"Welcome to Hayley's Cyberspace. Owned and run by yours truly," Hayley said proudly as she greeted them, and lead them to the table where the Dino Rangers awaited them.

"This place is amazing," said Kat, still looking around and taking it in.

"This is basically our Youth Center," said Tommy as they sat down, remembering the ranger hang-out from when he was in high school with Kat.

"I'd like to think I put Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar to shame," said Hayley playfully.

"I'd agree," said Kat with a smile. She then glanced at Tommy. "But it doesn't have all the memories."

For the rest of the afternoon, the Dino Rangers asked questions of their guest, trying to get to know the former Pink Ranger, asking her about her ranger team, her experiences in London as a dancer and teacher, as they ate food brought by Hayley. They exchanged contact information just before Kat and Tommy left, to return to his home on the edge of town.

- XXX -

"It's weird, huh? Watching those actors and stuntment using wires to all those crazy jumps, and knowing that we've done it ourselves with just the power?" Tommy asked Kat. It was later in the evening, and the two former rangers had decided to watch a Chinese martial arts movie after they'd returned from giving Kat a small tour of Reefside.

"It is," she agreed, taking the bowl filled with popcorn off his coffee table. Tommy watched her eat, slowly taking individial kernels of the snack and eating them one by one, her eyes fixated on the screen. He smiled, thinking it cute, but he wasn't aware that Kat could feel his gaze on her.

After the movie ended ended and credits began to role, Tommy stood up and removed the DVD from the player and back into the case. As he returned it to the cabinet he kept for his movie collection, he turned to Kat and asked, "Want to see something?" He grabbed a thick book from his bookshelf after she nodded, and brought it over to her, taking a seat.

"It's a photo album," she said, opening it and looking at the pages. Most were of their ranger team, several group shots with all of his teammates, but also several silly pictures of the guys - Tommy, Jason, Zack, Rocky, Adam - making goofy faces and poses. She smiled as she looked through the pages, sparking memories of when the pictures were taken, until she noticed an influx of couple shots of herself and Tommy. She saw a picture of the the two after their first date, which had been a trip to the movies, and one of the two sitting together on a tree branch at the park that the rangers frequented to hang out and combat evil. Then, she came across a very special photo.

"Oh my..." she said, slipping the picture out of its sleeve. "It's our senior prom."

The two looked at the photo she held gingerly by the edges. It was their prom portrait, with Tommy and Kat smiling brightly at the camera, with a moonlit shore backdrop. He wore a black suit with a dark red button-down shirt, with his then-long hair tied as it usually was. She wore a long pink and black dress, with a silver tiara in her wavy hair. That night, they'd been voted Prom King and Queen.

The rangers then turned away from the photo, and to each other. "That was an amazing night," he said, looking deep into her blue eyes.

"It was the first time you said to me..." she started.

"'I love you'," he finished for her. The two inched their faces together, until their lips softly met.

They pulled back for a quick moment, but then shared another light kiss. This time, Tommy was able to get a taste of her watermelon lipgloss, and they pulled back again.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking down to avoid her expression.

She gently tilted his head up, so his eyes met hers. "Don't be," she said, then kissed him again.


	3. Chapter 3

**- Chapter 3 -**

The following morning, Tommy awoke, blinking several times to fully open his eyes. He felt uncomfortable in his position, and then noticed that instead of a white pillow underneath his head, there was a pink surface, and he carefully lifted his head to see that he'd fallen asleep on Kat's chest.

He jumped back, and fell off the couch, landing on the floor and hitting his coffee table on the way down. The resounding crash caused Kat to stir to her side, then slowly awoke with something of a pout on her face. She then lifted her head a little, noticing Tommy on the floor, holding his elbow.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Me? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he answered quickly.

She then fully sat up, as he climbed to his feet. She let out a yawn, covering her mouth like a lady, then asked, "I didn't realize I'd fallen asleep on your couch. Did you sleep here, too?"

"No, no. I actually, uh, saw you asleep, and wondered if I should wake you up, or if I should take you to your room, but I decided to just leave you here on the couch, and I went to my room. I just came in here a second ago, and uh, tripped, and fell, and hit my elbow on the table. Yeah."

Kat eyed his suspiciously, then slowly nodded with a smile. "Well, okay then. But, is there any particular reason as to why you're wearing the same clothes as yesterday?"

Tommy's eyes widened a bit, but he quickly covered his tracks. "Well, I sleep in what I wear sometimes."

She giggled, and looked down. "Your shoes, too?"

His eyes went down as well, noticing his black shoes on. Their eyes met for a second, both knowing that their conversation wasn't based on truth, but he changed gears as he headed towards the kitchen. "So, how about breakfast?"

She climbed to her feet and walked over to his kitchen as well, where Tommy was inspecting his refridgerator. "The doctor cooks?"

He turned to her with a smile. "Well, after a few months, fast food, pizza, take-out, it stopped cutting it," he replied. He took out a carton of eggs, along with an unopened package of bacon, and set them on the table, before walking to a cabinet and taking out a box of pancake mix.

Once the meal was prepared some fifteen minutes later, the two sat down and enjoyed their breakfast, with friendly chatter. "So, any ideas on what you want to do today?" Tommy asked before taking a bite of pancake.

"Well, there's the matter of unpacking my things, so I'd like to take care of that before anything else," she said with a smile as Tommy nodded, having forgotten about her things.

Once they finished their meal, the two walked into Tommy's seldom-used guest room, which he'd cleaned days prior to Kat's arrival, making sure everything was in order for her, and not a speck of dust was around to bother her. They'd previously laid her three bags on the bed, which he'd covered with a pink sheet with yellow daisies.

"So, which of these should I not be going into?" he asked, not wanting to go through Kat's personal clothing.

"I believe this bag," she replied with a smile, moving it up the bed. The two then began to remove clothes from the other bags and hanging them in the closet, which Tommy had prepared with hangars, unless Kat instructed otherwise. Kat then took out a pair of jeans from the bag, and stopped, having seen what was lying underneath them. She set the pants down, and picked the items up: her Zeonizers.

She held them up, looking at them longingly as Tommy looked at the devices as well. "You know, I haven't morphed since we passed on the power," she said, then turned to Tommy with something of a sad smile. "I bet you were really excited when you got to join the Dino Rangers as the Black Ranger, and get to do it all over again."

"Just partly excited," he said. "I really thought the Red Ranger mission I had on the moon would be the last time I'd suit up, but that was just before I got involved with Anton Mercer. Once our expirements went wrong, I realized I'd have to get back in the ranger game. I tried to keep out of the action for as long as I could, taking the mentor role, but the Black Dino Gem had a different path for me. Hopefully, I'm done for good now."

Kat smiled, and placed her Zeonizers in the drawer next to her bed. She then turned to him with a smile, picked up her jeans, and said, "Well, if there's one thing we should always keep in mind, after years of fighting off monsters and aliens, is that we should never count things out, not as long as they're a small possibility."

Tommy nodded, and was reminded of the kiss he had with Kat the previous night. He'd not tried to think about it during breakfast, or as the two put Kat's clothes away, especially since Kat didn't bring it up either, but her words and her tone of optimism gave him a glimmer of hope. He smiled as he watched her hang the rest of the clothes, then she turned to him with a small smile as well.

"Do you mind stepping out for a moment?" she said, grabbing the bag with contents not intended for Tommy.

He nodded, and exited the room, closing the door behind him. He stood outside, back to the door for a second, then headed to his own room to change from his own clothes.


	4. Chapter 4

**- Chapter 4 -**

After Tommy and Kat finished unpacking and setting up her things, the two decided to go out for dinner. They went to the Olive Garden, which always provided the proper atmosphere for talking and laughing whilst eating delicious food. This is exactly what the old friends did, not being able to stop smiling throughout the evening as they told some of the stories not yet shared.

"Once, I had a student that wasn't doing all that well in class, so I asked to see him after school," said Tommy as Kat took a bite of her salad. "So I asked him why he was in my science class to begin with, since I knew he didn't like it. My class isn't a graduation requirement, it just looks really good for college applications, and he said he was only there because his girlfriend was in the class."

"Ah," said Kat with a smile.

He smiled in return. "Yep. The kid was risking credits for a girlfriend he probably wouldn't have a year from then. Teenage love."

"What kids do... So well-meaning, yet so naive," said Kat, who then got a reminiscent look in her eyes. "Remember when the man who was supposed to be the tree in the play I organized for the girls in my ballet class couldn't make the show, and you took his place? You were taller than the original, so we could hardly get you in the costume."

Tommy let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I remember that. Do you remember the time my uncle got me a spot in a race he was funding, and you came out to see it, even when it was around 110 degrees, and could've been at the beach with the others?"

"Yes," said Kat. The two remained silent for a moment, enjoying the brought-up memories instead of the food they ate, then she turned to him again. "You know, Tommy, it's been wonderful catching up with you, and getting to know the new short-haired doctor you, and I think it'd be nice if I got to know your friends a little better, too. Perhaps we could have a small gathering one of these days, when they're not all busy."

Tommy rubbed his chin. "You mean, like a party?"

"Well, not quite. I was thinking something more along the lines of a barbeque."

"Yeah, that'd work," he said with a nod. "I'll call everyone and ask what they're doing tomorrow. If we set it up, we could head to the store later on."

"Sounds great," Kat said with an earnest smile.

**- XXX -**

The next morning, Tommy and Kat began preparing for their barbeque at 11 a.m., setting out picnic tables with paper plates and plastic utensils out in Tommy's ample backyard. By the time the guests began arriving at around noon, the food was on the grill, and was awaiting for someone to put it on a plate next to buns to prepare as the eater so wished.

Conner arrived in his red Mustang with his girlfriend Krista, and Ethan brought along his girlfriend Angela. Kira and Trent arrived together, but separately from his adopted parents in Anton and Elsa Mercer. Everyone approached Katherine with warm smile, and exchanged a few quick words before they left to have Tommy give them their food.

"So, do you guys know where Hayley is?" Tommy asked once he joined them at the tables, taking a seat at the edge, next to Kat.

"She told me she had something to take care of first at Cyberspace; she'll be here as soon as she can," answered Ethan.

Tommy nodded, and the ten quickly became intertwined in conversation, most of it with Kat included. A little while later, after everyone had had second servings, Hayley arrived with a weary smile.

"Sorry I'm late. Of all days for the smoothie machine to break down, it had to be today," she said as Tommy got up to serve her her food.

With Hayley now at the table, she and Kat primarily talked about her time in college, and some humorous stories of Tommy, as he smirked and looked away at some of the more embarassing tales. It was during a good laugh shared by all when Tommy's phone began ringing in his pocket, and he calmed down first to check it out. Most quieted down in intruige, although Conner and Ethan continued talking quietly.

Tommy opened his phone to accept the call. "Hello?"

"Tommy," said an urgent voice on the other line, which he recognized immediately, and made his heart sink. "I need to talk to you."

"Phantom Ranger," he whispered, with no one able to clearly hear what he said. He stood up from the table, and walked a few steps away. "Something tells me this call isn't under the most pleasant terms."

"I apologize," Phantom Ranger said, his tone confirming it to be true. "I have some important information that I need to relay to you quickly. I just returned from a quest on the planet Onyx, and I heard of someone named Xiarayne planning to launch an attack on the Red Rangers of Earth."

Tommy took a moment to absorb this information, then asked, "Why?"

"I don't know. Neither did the person who I got the information from," answered Phantom Ranger. "I searched my records of anyone named Xiarayne, although I got nothing vital. None of them checked out to have some sort of criminal background."

The legendary ranger again was silent for a second, then asked rhetorically, "So I guess I have to round up all the Red Rangers again and stop this guy, huh?"

"I'm sorry for this. I'll continue to help you as much as I can."

"Thanks," Tommy said, then hung up his phone. He turned back around and walked up to the table, where all of the smiles disappeared once they saw his expression.

"What's wrong?" asked Kat.

He let out a sigh, then said, "That was the Phantom Ranger. Apparently some guy named Xiarayne's out for the Red Rangers. And you know what that means."

Everyone looked disappointed at the realization, then the eyes turned to Conner, whose arm was being gripped by Krista. He cracked out a smile without much happiness or excitement as he said, "Well, let's go get this guy."

Tommy nodded his head once, then looked to his phone, bringing up his contact list. "I'll let the other Red Rangers know what's going on."


	5. Chapter 5

**- Chapter 5 -**

- Angel Grove, CA -

It was noon that same day in Angel Grove's Red Dragon Dojo. Jason Lee Scott was stretching out to teach his next class, as his wife Emily said behind the counter, and Rocky DeSantos came from the back, having dressed out of his instructor's uniform.

"Don't take too long with those pizzas, Rock," said Jason, as he referred to the special lunch they planned for the students after a great tournament earlier that week.

"It won't be my fault if I do," he joked right before he stepped outside.

Jason and Emily watched him enter his red truck, then back out of the parking lot. "What're the chances that he comes back with a few empty boxes?" she asked.

He turned to her with a smile, then walked out to the mats, where his students awaited. They quickly lined up as their teacher walked towards them, and he stepped to the front. "So today, we're gonna take it a little easy, 'cause we've got a treat for you guys for doing so well in the tournament against Adam's Golden Lions. So, let's begin."

As soon as he got into position, however, a bright flash of light was emitted into the room from the outside. Jason and the kids blinked a few times to get their sight back, and the first thing they saw was over a dozen humanoid creatures jump through the large windows of the dojo. They rolled to recover from the jump, and Jason was able to make them out fully. They wore light silver armor over their chest, forearms, and boots, and had a dark purple orb in the center of their chestplate. They also had small blades extending from their wrists and the back of their boots, and their skin was very pale, with a slight violet coloring. Their long hair was silver and tied back, and the color of their entire eye was the same as their orbs.

Jason quickly scanned them and counted around twenty, then noticed another figure still outside. He wore a black cloak and long crimson hair, but his attention quickly snapped back to the creatures, who slowly approached him and his students.

"Emily, get the kids out of here. Now!" he yelled. The students quickly took off to the back of the dojo, as Emily held the door open for them and gave them instructions of where to go.

With the floor cleared, the creatures lunged at Jason. He was able to kick the first away with ease, but the others swarmed at him, forming a sort of circle. They came at him with punches and kicks, and he was able to swiftly dodge them as he struck back. He jumped over a sweep kick, then delivered a spin kick once his feet touched the ground, causing the creature to fall into another. He ducked to avoid a punch from behind, and the creature inadvertently struck one of its own, and Jason was able to elbow it in the stomach. He threw a punch of his own to another, but his arm was caught, and he took a kick to the midsection. He quickly shook it off, and retaliated against the same warrior with a kick of his own.

Another came at him, which he caught with a tornado kick, but then he heard Emily scream his name. He looked over at her, and saw two creatures going after her. She threw a kick at one of them, but it seemed unphased, and took ahold of her wrist.

"Emily!" he yelled. He ran past the monsters to save his wife, but the other creature on her was able to catch him with a spinning kick to the ribs. The wind was knocked out of him as he doubled over, but again he fought against the pain. He was able to kick back at it, and went towards the one that held Emily, but the others caught up to him, and grabbed him from behind. He tried to escape their grip, but he took another shot to the ribs. They let him go after that, and he fell to the floor. He watched two monsters exit the room with Emily in their grasp, and got back to his feet as fast as he could. One of the creatures swung his leg at him with a roundhouse kick, but Jason was able to duck and sweep him down. He grabbed his ribs in pain from the rotation, but it didn't stop him from delivering two more kicks to the remaining two. He ran to the back, and through the window to the outside lot, he saw Emily struggling in the grasp of the creatures, as well as the man he saw outside the dojo with crimson hair.

"Let her go!" he demanded.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Red Ranger," he said with a smirk.

Without regard for the man knowing his identity, Jason charged at him, enraged. He threw a kick that he blocked without much effort, and then a second. He ducked a third, then delivered a powerful sidekick to his ribs. Jason again fell to the ground, as Emily screamed for her husband. He got to his feet slowly, holding his ribs again, and wasn't able to move away in time as the man ran up at him, then jumped for a diving kick, on target with his injured ribs. He again flew back, but this time, he didn't attempt to give up.

The man looked down at Jason with a bit of a frown, then turned to the two creatures holding the hysteric Emily. "Where's the other one?" They creatures offered no response, although Emily stopped yelling when she heard this. He noticed the expression of realization in her face, and walked up to her. "Where's the other Red Ranger that works here?"

Emily only scowled at him, then he nodded to the creatures. "Another time then. Let's go."

With that, a violet lightning bolt struck the creatures and Emily, as a red one crashed down on the man. They disappeared, no trace of them ever having been there, leaving the knocked-out Jason still immobile on the ground.

- XXX -

A few minutes later, Rocky turned the corner, and his mouth dropped in shock when he saw all the front windows of the dojo busted. Quickly and almost recklessly, he parked in his usual spot, and hurried inside. He looked around, shattered glass on the floor, and seeing no one in sight.

"Jason! Emily!" he called out, starting to feel distress creep over him. "Kids!"

He then walked to the back, and through the open door to the outside, saw a body in a red instructor's uniform lying on the ground. He ran up to him, and lightly slapped Jason to try to wake him up. After a moment, he groaned, then let out a gasp of pain, his hands automatically moving to his ribs.

"Jason! You okay? What happened" Rocky asked.

"Some guys... they took Emily..." he gasped, hurting every time he spoke.

Rocky noticed this, and said. "I think your ribs might be broken. I'm taking you to the hospital. Come on."

With some difficulty, he grabbed Jason and picked him up with his arm over his shoulders. Together, they walked back inside the dojo, but then the phone started ringing. The two turned to it for a second, but decided it wasn't as important as getting Jason help. He helped him into the passenger's seat of his truck, and took off en route to the hospital, with Jason explaining about the armored warriors and the crimson-haired man. Along the way, Rocky's cell phone started ringing in his pocket, and he frustratedly pulled it out. He eased down a bit when he saw who it was.

"Tommy?" he asked when he picked up.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked on the other line, picking up the sense of urgency in Rocky's voice.

"Jason was attacked; I'm taking him to the hospital."

"Attacked? By who?"

"By some guy, with long red hair, and armored creatures. They took Emily," he said.

Tommy sighed. "I'm really sorry to hear that," then after a small pause, "I was calling to let you guys know that someone named Xiarayne is coming after Red Rangers. Guess I'm too late... sorry."

"It's not your fault, bro," said Rocky. "Anyway, we're at the hospital. I'll call you back in a bit."

- XXX -

Some time later, the diagnosis was in for Jason's condition, which was three broken ribs. He was being bandaged in his room at the moment, as Rocky stood outside, on the phone with Tommy.

"All the Phantom Ranger said was that he heard from someone on planet Onyx that some guy named Xiarayne is planning on attacking Earth's Red Rangers. We don't know why, or anything else. Right now, I'm calling all the Red Rangers and letting them know what's going on."

"So, I guess you're throwing another Red Ranger party, huh?"

"I guess," Tommy said disappointedly. "Just when Kat came back, too."

"That's right," he said, remembering. "Tell her I said hi. Anyway, they're letting me back into Jason's room right now, so I'll talk to you in a bit."

He hung up, then entered Jason's room, where he was sitting up rigidly in bed, still wearing a pained expression. Rocky took a seat next to the bed, and explained what was happening with Xiarayne and the Red Rangers. Jason listened with great interest, but still looked very hollow. Rocky noticed then, then apologized for them taking his wife.

Jason sighed, then turned to him. "So, if Tommy's gonna go on another Red Ranger mission, you're gonna need some powers."

"Really?" Rocky asked.

He nodded, then proceeded to tell him where he kept his functional Tyrannosaurus Power Coin in his house. Rocky stored it in his memory, then told him to keep him posted on his condition, and that he'd do the same once he reached Reefside and joined Tommy.


	6. Chapter 6

**- Chapter 6 -**

- Reefside, CA -

Tommy hung up his phone after his conversation with Rocky as he drove to the hospital, and returned it to his pocket. His eyes lifted to face his guests for the first time since he got the initial call from the Phantom Ranger, and sighed before speaking. "Jason was just attacked. His dojo was wrecked, his ribs might be broken, and they took his wife Emily."

Most of the girls gasped at this news, Kat included, as the guys had sad expressions. Conner stood up from his seat, letting go of Krista's hand, and walked up to his mentor with stern eyes. "These guys are serious, Dr. O. We've gotta fight back."

Tommy frowned. "It's not that easy, Conner. We don't know anything right now about them, just a brief description. The best thing we can do right now is to let the other Red Rangers know what's going on, so they can keep alert." He then diverted his eyes to the worried Krista, then turned back to Conner. "And with the kidnapping of Emily, it's best that we keep our loved ones well-protected, too."

He nodded, then walked back to his girlfriend, as everyone else started getting up from the table. "We're really sorry for Jason, and we wish him a full recovery. But right now, it's probably best that we leave, and let you get to work," said Anton. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

Tommy gave him a nod in thanks, and Anton gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder as he and the others walked past him, heading back to their cars. Kat then approached him, and slipped her hand into his. For a quick second, her touch made him get lost in his heart, but when he turned to her and saw the sorrow in her eyes, he remembered the situation, and sighed. Leaving the plates and utensils on the outside, the two headed back inside his house, where he immediately went for his contact book, and searched up all the Red Rangers.

He didn't call T.J. Johnson or Andros, as he figured that the Phantom Ranger would've already alerted them of the dangers they faced, and begun with Carter Grayson. Unfortunately, his call was unable to go through. Kat, sitting on his recliner, watched him on his couch, holding his phone to his ear for a few seconds, then hang up with anger in his eyes. "No answer," he muttered.

He turned a page in his book, and dialed the number he was looking for into his phone, to Bio-Labs in Silver Hills. After giving his name, he was redirected to the president, Wes Collins. He informed him of the new threat that had arisen against the Red Rangers, and told him to pass the information to his co-leader of the Silver Guardians, Eric Myers. Afterwards, he called Cole Evans in his veterinarian's office in Turtle Cove, and let him know as well.

As he searched through his book for the next contact, Kat asked softly, "So, how many Red Rangers are there?"

"Few more," he answered frustrated, but quickly came to regret his tone. "Sorry, I shouldn't be lashing out at you."

She looked on at him as he punched in the number for Shane Clarke in Blue Bay Harbor, feeling sadness over Tommy's reaction to being called back into action, Jason being hurt by the villians, and Emily being kidnapped. Tommy asked Shane to warn Hunter Bradley against Xiarayne's forces as well, then hung up. As he flipped through the pages in his book, his phone began to ring again, and it was Rocky with an update on Jason.

The two former partners talked for several minutes, until Rocky expalined that he was being allowed to see Jason in his room now. Tommy then called the Rock-Porium in Briarwood to get ahold of Nick Russel, but he was told that he was traveling around with his parents, without a way to reach them. Tommy sighed at this, then realized he didn't have any contact information for the most recent Red Ranger, Mack Hartford. He gave Hayley a quick call to ask if she could get it for him, then set his phone down on the table, leaning back on his couch, letting out another sigh.

Katherine got up from the recliner, and took a seat next to him, again taking his hand. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said, but he knew she could tell he was lying. "No, I'm not. It's just... why now? Why did this have to happen now? I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved being a Power Ranger. But I thought that part of my life was over, when we beat Mesogog. I know that there's always a chance that I could get called back into action, but why now? Just when you get back?"

"I'm sorry," she said. She then felt her hand being squeezed by his, and she turned to him. Their eyes met for a second, but he then moved in to kiss her. She was caught off-guard at first, but then fell into it.

They broke up after a moment, and Tommy looked in her eyes again, and with total conviction in his voice, he said, "Kat, I love you."

Her heart missed a beat upon hearing those words, and a smile began spreading across her face, her eyes starting to feel misty. Tommy pulled her hand closer to him, and put his other hand on top of her's. "Kat, all these years since you left for London, there hasn't been a long period of time where I didn't think about you. I've tried to fall in love with other women, but none of them had the effect that you had on me, the type of effect that made me feel warm in winter. The type of effect that made me feel like I could do anything when everything was in my way."

Kat gave him a shy smile as a tear began to run down her cheek, and she turned away, unsure of how to respond. He turned her face gently to look back at him, then wiped the tear away. She loved his restored smile, sensing that the pressure he had been feeling moments ago had been uplifted from him. Still, she was at a loss for words. "I don't know what to say... except that, I love you, too, Tommy."

His smile widened upon hearing these words, and he took a moment to absorb them before replying, "That's all you have to say."

The two kissed again, awakening the passion they've kept dormant for almost ten years, until they had to break up to breathe. It wasn't long before they kissed again, but this time, their separation was caused by a mutual decision.

"So, does this mean... we're back together?" he asked, wincing in his mind at the stupid question.

"Of course," she said eagerly, before giving him a quick kiss. He then gave her one of his own, with Kat giving him another. Before he could respond with a second kiss for her, his phone began ringing again. He was a little bothered to be taken away from the moment, but then remembered the situation with the Red Rangers, and grabbed his phone, picking up.

"Tommy, I'm coming to Reefside," said Rocky. "Jason let me borrow his Power Coin, so it looks like I won't be missing the red reunion this time around."

"Good to hear, man," Tommy answered truthfully, glad for the good news. "Great to have you on our side."

"Also, there's the matter of me not exactly being prepared for a trip out of Angel Grove, so it's cool if I crash with you and Kat, right?"

"You don't even have to ask," he replied. "Talk to you later."

Tommy then told Kat of Rocky's stay with them, bringing a smile to her face. She said it'll be great to see him again, even if it'd take some of their privacy. He smirked, then kissed her again. Their rekindling was cut off by Kat a short while later, as she lead him outside to clean up their mess from the party ealier. Stuffing the trash into large bags, they took the uncooked food and restored it in the freezer.

- XXX -

Rocky arrived after the sun had set, as Tommy and Kat ate dinner. A knock was heard on the door, and Tommy volunteered to go get it. He opened the door, and the two old friends exchanged a smile and a hug.

"It's been too long, man," Tommy said, stepping aside to let him inside the house.

"Definitely. I just wish it was under better circumstances," Rocky replied, then smiled over at Kat as she walked up to him. "Man Kat, you look beautiful as always. Great to see you again."

"Likewise," she said, sharing a hug with him as well.

Rocky then turned to Tommy's kitchen, catching the aroma emitting from there. "So, you guys having dinner?"

"Yeah," Tommy answered. "Care to join us? We're having macaroni and cheese - it's all we could think to make after everything that's happened today."

"Mac and cheese? I'm in."

The three rangers ate and caught up, having a great time, before conversation turned to the new villianous force threatening the Red Rangers. The mood declined slightly, but the idea was struck up that the three go on a drive around the city after dinner, with Tommy showing Kat and Rocky around. It was during this time that the newly reformed couple explained to Rocky that they were back together, with Rocky telling them he knew it'd happen again, and that he was really happy for them. Upon returning to the house later in the night, Rocky insisted that he sleep on the couch, and Tommy and Kat slept together in his room, falling into slumber with his arms lovingly around her waist.


	7. Chapter 7

**- Chapter 7 -**

- Angel Grove, CA -

"So who hasn't Tommy been able to contact yet?" asked T.J. Johnson, as he took a seat next to his wife Cassie Chan at the patio table outside of a small restuarant. It was the following day, and the two had made arrangements to have lunch with their best friends.

"Carter, and Nick Russel, the Red Mystic Ranger," replied Andros. "From what he told me this morning, Carter didn't answer his phone, or reply to the voicemail he left for him. And Nick Russel, apparently he's traveling the country with his parents, without serious means of communication."

"And how's Jason? We passed by his dojo on the way here, and the place was wrecked," said Cassie. After her crush on the android Phantom Ranger dissipated, she began to fall in love with her former teammate. Eventually the two began dating, and married a few years later.

"From what Rocky said, he suffered three broken ribs. He's not going to be able to join us in the fight, but his absence won't be completely missed; he gave his functioning Power Coin to Rocky, who's more than capable. A tremendous ranger in his own right, we could've used his help during the last Red Ranger mission."

"What about Emily? We heard she was kidnapped?" asked Cassie.

Ashley Hammond, Andros's wife, nodded solemnly. "She was. Jason wasn't conscious to see it happen, but from what Rocky told us, she was in the grasp of two creatures as Jason fought against a guy with long red hair." She took a sip of her lemonade, before saying a little carefully, "What I don't get is, why didn't these guys finish Jason off when they had the chance? I mean, I'm glad they didn't, but it doesn't exactly fit the typical villian motif."

"Maybe he's an honorable villian," T.J. suggested as he picked up the menu.

"It's possible," said Andros, inspecting his own, "but it's also probable that Xiarayne wants to gather all of the Red Rangers in one location to take us out at once, rather than one by one, and kidnapping a loved one could be his way of ensuring it goes his way. If that was the case, then his minions might've done too good a job with Jason, since he won't be fighting for some time."

"So what do we do when all the Red Rangers are together?" asked T.J. "We don't know where to find Xiarayne; we don't know anything about this guy, except his name."

"The Phantom Ranger's been looking up on possible leads to find out more about Xiarayne, but I wouldn't be too concerned with what we do when we're all assembled," replied Andros. "I'm sure that once he has our full attention, he'll tell us what move to make next."

Suddenly, a bright flash of light illuminated the surrounding area, and the four rangers turned to the park across the street from where they were sitting. People began screaming and running away, and they saw that the hysteria was being caused by a large group of pale-skinned armored creatures, standing shoulder to shoulder, facing the rangers. In front of the squadron of warriors stood a man in a black cloak with long crimson hair.

"Looks like they got our attention," said T.J., jumping from his seat, then hopping over the small guardrail, followed at the heels by his friends. They ran across the street and into the park, coming up to a safe distance from the warriors, and took up fighting stances.

Andros surveyed the man in the middle, checking his description. "Are you Xiarayne?"

The man chuckled with arrogance, then shook his head.

"Who are you then?" Ashley demaned.

He chuckled again. "I'll give you my name in due time. But I'm sure one of your Red Ranger friends is already fairly acquainted with me."

This caused the four rangers to snarl, widening the man's grin. He then gave a single nod, giving his soldiers the okay to attack. They charged at the rangers, as they also ran to meet them. Andros dodged a blow aimed at his head, and punched at the creature in its unprotected midsection. He pulled back his arm to nail an elbow to the same area of another, then nimbly dodged a kick, turning his counter into offense by sweeping the warrior. Ashley blocked a swing with her forearm, then fired off a kick to a monster behind her. She then kicked another to the side, causing it to double over. She rolled over its back, and one of the warriors accidently hit its ally with a chop. T.J. blasted a creature twice with a kick to its midsection and another to its head, then struck another three with a single reverse roundhouse. He then jumped over a low kick, and was able to put the warrior out of the fight with punch to the face. Cassie jumped and connected with a mid-air split kick to two monsters, then fended off another by ducking a blow and nailing it with an uppercut. She then ran towards another with a kick, which the creature caught, but she was able to free herself with a backflip kick to the chin.

Despite the rangers handling themselves well, they were still largely outnumbered, finding themselves encircled and cut off from their spouses. "How many do you think there are?" T.J. asked, back-to-back with Andros.

"Too many," the Kerovan replied, his blond-and-black striped hair coming undone from his half-ponytail.

With that, the two turned to face each and clasped hands, then broke the circle by pressing forward at the creatures with kicks. T.J. pulled Andros back as a monster slashed at him with its wrist-blade, and Andros returned the favor by kicking away a warrior that crept behind T.J. The two Red Rangers then ran and jumped over two of the warriors, and twisted in the air to land facing them, allowing them to strike them with punches. They then looked around for the next creatures to come at them, but noticed that most of them were diverting their attention from them to Cassie and Ashley.

The tire in the Pink and Yellow Space Rangers was beginning to show as they fought on, as they hadn't been in combat for some time, and the group of warriors they were fending off was growing by two for every one they defeated. T.J. and Andros began to run towards them to help out, but they were immediately cut off by a red lightning bolt creating a small explosion in front of them. They lowered their arms, and looked to the direction of the bolt. They saw the crimson-haired man walking towards them with a big grin on his face, and pointing a sword, seemingly fashioned from a red crystal, at the two.

"Sorry, but orders are to prevent you from helping your wives," he apologized without sympathy.

The Red Rangers frowned at him, but T.J. tore his eyes from the man to turn back to the women, then began to charge over to where they were fighting, with Andros quickly ensuing. However, they were again cut off by a red bolt, this time with the sword-wielding man stood where the bolt impacted, still grinning. T.J. and Andros concluded that they would have to take this man down to get to their wives, and rushed him together. Andros went high with a tornado kick as T.J. went low with a sweep, but he was impressively able to dodge both attacks by rolling between their legs. Once he reached a vertical base, he swung his blade at the rangers, with force, but at the same time somewhat lacking the desire to actually connect.

The man slashed at them in the reckless pattern, until it clicked in Andros' mind that he was only keeping them distracted. He turned over to the circle around Ashley and Cassie, and saw them almost completely swarmed, in clear struggle against the warriors. He broke away from the battle with the crimson-haired man and started running towards the women, but again a red bolt prevented him from reaching them. This bolt too came from the sky, the cloaked warrior having teleported again, standing where it struck, still smiling.

"I told you, I can't allow you to help," he said. Yells from within the circle caused all attention to focus on Cassie and Ashley, and the crowd parted to show the two women being held by the creatures.

"Let us go!" they demanded, fighting against their hold, but without much effect.

The man returned his gaze from them to the Red Rangers, then said, "It does seem that they could use it."

The sight of their captured wives, as well as his chilling words, lead to T.J. and Andros to become infuriated, and immediately took off in their direction without regard. The man noticed this, and gave them a smirk just before he struck the two with a single butterfly kick. After recovering, he nodded at the creatures, and they vanished via a violet thunderbolt. The man turned back to the fallen Red Rangers.

"I'll see you again, in Reefside," he said arrogantly, then teleported away with a red thunderbolt crashing down on him.

Andros and T.J. rose to their feet, holding their faces, the realization of their wives being kidnapped slowly seeping. Andros dropped to his knees and pounded the ground with a growl, as he tried to fight back tears.

"How could we let this happen?!" he demanded. The question wasn't directed at T.J., but he put a hand on his shoulder as a reply.

"We'll get them back," he promised softly, trying not to choke on his words. "Come on, man. We gotta go meet up with Tommy and the others. Come on."

Andros took a deep breath to gather himself, then got back to his feet. He looked at T.J. with sorrowful eyes, tainted red with tears, and nodded. "He said he'll see us in Reefside. I'm gonna make sure he'll regret those words."


	8. Chapter 8

**- Chapter 8 -**

- Reefside, CA -

It was the following morning, and the sun was creeping into Tommy's room. He slowly awoke, then saw Kat sleeping calmly next to him. The sunlight streaming from his window bounced off her creamy skin, giving a sort of illusion that she was glowing, like an angel. She had a tiny glimmer of a smile on her face, making her look completely at peace in her slumber, even though she was fretting the Xiarayne situation almost as much as him. Her radiating skin and smile took over him, and he couldn't help but softly stroke her cheek with the back of his hand.

Her smile grew at his touch, then she said quitely, "Morning, Tommy."

He pulled his hand back. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No," she replied. "I woke up a little earlier, but I decided to wait for you. I almost fell asleep again."

With that, she sat up, removing the sheets off her, and sat at the edge of the bed. She took a hairtie she left on his nightstand earlier, and used it to tie up her hair. "I'm going to go to my room to change," she said, standing up, "then I'll get started on breakfast. I almost forgot how much Rocky enjoys eating."

Tommy also got out of bed, but stopped her with a question. "Actually, I was thinking of maybe heading out for breakfast, to a Denny's or something, and we could invite Conner and Krista. Given that Xiarayne seems to be taking people close to us, and Conner not having his powers, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on them."

- XXX -

About an hour later, Tommy, Kat, Rocky, Conner and Krista ate together at a Denny's, enjoying the food curteously bought by Tommy.

"So what happened to Andros and T.J.? I thought they were supposed to arrive yesterday?" asked Conner as he used one his sausage links to clean his plate of syrup, then ate it.

"They dropped off their kids with Karone and Zhane - she's Andros's sister and his best friend, they're married - then started driving in the direction they thought was Reefside. They weren't thinking clearly, and were actually headed to Silver Hills," Tommy explained the absense of the Red Rangers. "They went back to their homes in Angel Grove to spend the night, and they called me earlier that they were on the right path to Reefside now."

"It's kind of funny," said Rocky, digging into his hash browns, "but it actually sucks."

Things were quiet at their table for a moment, but then Conner spoke up again after taking a drink of his orange juice. "So Dr. O, what're we gonna do about my powers? Are we gonna get that Sentinal Knight guy to restore them like he did Kira's?"

"No," he answered. "I don't think he'll do that; he only did it for Kira because the Overdrive Rangers' powers were temporarily destroyed. I was thinking maybe magic would be able to restore your Dino Gem, so we'll be going to Briarwood to talk to Clare the Sorceress. She might be able to do something about your powers."

After the five finished their meal, they all walked out to the nearby Reefside Park. Tommy and Kat took a seat at a bench to talk, as Rocky looked around for an ice cream vendor. Conner lead Krista to a lone bench by the small pond, and took a seat. Conner slid his arm around her waist as they stared into the water, as she rested her head against his shoulder.

As she watched a duck carelessly floating on the surface of the pond, she thought about was what going on with the Red Rangers. Ever since Conner revealed to her that he was the Red Dino Ranger, she had always felt a sense of safety in his presence, even though he no longer had his powers, and there was no menace against him. The way his smile exuded a sincere confidence that promised her well-being, she knew that it was a strong and honest pair of arms that held her. But now that someone was directing an attack against rangers that shared his color, she felt an aura of danger that she couldn't shake off.

"Conner," she whispered. "I'm scared."

"I know," he replied. He then placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face to his, so he could stare into her green eyes. "But as long as I'm here with you, nothing will happen." He then gave her a kiss on the mouth, and lightly rested his forehead against hers. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied, kissing him in turn.

He broke away from her for a second, to get another good look into her eyes. This time, he saw emerald purity, with a powerful love that he shared in his. He then kissed her again, passionately. Once they broke apart, she noticed something out of place from the corner of her eye, and turned back to the other side of the lake. For a quick moment, she saw a man in a black cloak standing there, with long silver hair tied back in a half-ponytail, and for a moment, she could swear that his eyes flashed a bright violet light.

"Conner!" she shrieked, and pointed.

He turned his head to where her finger indicated, immediately alert, but didn't see anything. "What's wrong?"

"I saw this man. He was dressed in all black, and his eyes glowed purple for a second. He was just there..."

Conner turned back to Krista, and knew she wasn't kidding by the fear on her face. "Let's go talk to Dr. O. Vanishing guys with glowing eyes are never a good thing."

The two stood from their bench and began walking to where Tommy and Kat sat, but along the way were intercepted by a purple thunderbolt striking the ground, bringing along a dozen armored warriors. The people in the park saw the monsters and began screaming and running away, attracting the attention of the rangers, who quickly ran towards the warriors to help the two.

"So these are the guys that messed Jason up, huh?" said Rocky, still holding an ice cream cone he'd bought from a vendor. He tossed it aside without thinking, and assumed a fighting position along with Tommy and Kat.

On the other side of the warrior wall, Conner was squeezing Krista's hand as he scowled at the warriors. He then let her hand go, and quickly turned to her. "Krista, run. Get out of here."

Krista gave a single solemn nod, then turned and began running. Conner watched her for a quick moment, then the fight began. The warriors swarmed at the rangers, but they were quick to greet them with their own onslaught. Conner connected with a roundhouse kick to the head, then a knee to the unprotected midsection to another, followed by a club across the back. Tommy sidekicked a monster, then ducked under a punch, and spun in place to deliver a tornado kick once he sprang back up. Kat caught two punches at once, and flipped the monsters before giving another a crescent kick to the head. Rocky sweeped a monster onto its back, then bent over and threw a running warrior over his head, having it land on its ally. He then caught a kick aimed at his chest, then stepped over the leg to strike with a windmill kick.

The four rangers assembled in a small group, as did the creatures. The deep purple orbs in their chestplates began to glow, then they unleashed a powerful blast, sending them flying back. Krista, who'd been watching the battle from what she thought was a safe distance, felt a wave of horror come over her as she saw Conner hit the ground hard.

The warriors advanced towards the rangers, orbs still glowing, but then two fell, a shower of sparks seemingly being blasted from their backs. The warriors turned around, and saw the morphed Andros and T.J. pointing their Astro Blaster and Auto Blaster at the monsters, respectively. They then holstered their guns, and called upon their blades, the Spiral Saber and Lightning Sword. With a cry, the Red Rangers ran towards the monsters, and precisely slashed at them. T.J. swiped at two, then parried a third's wrist-blades. He kicked it in the side, and followed up with a slash. Andros ferociously swung his saber at the monsters, taking them out one by one. The warriors raised their forearms to block with their blades, but he struck with enough power to break through them.

T.J. and Andros then regrouped, the same idea in mind. They focused their powers in their swords, causing them to be enveloped by a red glow. They then swung at the remaining creatures, sending a red blast at them, creating an explosion to destroy them. The Red Rangers then walked towards the others as they got back up, and demorphed.

"You guys alright?" Andros asked.

"Yeah, thanks," said Tommy. "Great timing."

T.J. nodded, as the rangers reacquainted themselves with handshakes and hugs. Afterwards, he then asked, "Hey, was there a guy here, with long red hair?"

Krista, convinced that the battle was over, began walking back towards the group of rangers, but was cut off by a piercing voice behind her.

"I'm afraid I can't let you return to your friends."

She whisked around suddenly, and saw a man dressed in a black cloak and long silver hair, the same man she'd seen across the lake moments before. She began to back-pedal, but once she turned to run towards the rangers, she was shocked to see the man now in front of her, stern eyes glaring at her. They then began to glow violet, and she found herself inside a light purple sphere with electricity running on the outside, trapped with the man.

"Conner!" she called out.

The rangers turned to where her voice sounded from, and Conner's eyes widened at seeing a sparking purple bubble encasing his girlfriend with a man in black. "Krista!" he yelled, and immediately dashed towards them. He tried to punch at the sphere when he came to it, but he was sent flying back by a small lightning blast unleashed by it.

"No!" Krista yelled.

Conner made it to his feet quickly but in obvious pain, and made a move to get at the sphere again, but was held back by Rocky and Tommy. He fought against their grip initially, but then calmed down enough to bark at the man. "Who are you?"

"I am Xiarayne," he replied callously. "The last warrior you shall face. But at another time, for our final battle wouldn't be as satisfactory without all the Red Rangers present."

"Let Krista go!" Conner shouted, ignoring everything following his name. With Tommy and Rocky having relaxed their hold on him, he broke away and started running towards the two again. This time, however, he was interrupted by a red blast in front on him, kicking up dust. When it cleared and the rangers regained their vision, they saw a man dressed similarly to Xiarayne, but instead having long crimson hair, and twirling a red crystal sword.

"You!" cried Andros and T.J., immediately recognizing him as the man that aided the kidnappings of Ashley and Cassie, and Emily as well.

"Hello again," he said, the same arrogance as the day before in his voice. "So, you wanted my name? It's Exerion, the ever loyal and humble follower to my master Xiarayne."

Xiarayne grinned within his sphere, and it slowly began to float upwards, out of reach for the rangers. Conner followed it as it ascended, taking his eyes off Exerion, causing him to get kicked in the chest. Exerion immediately jumped towards the others, slashing at them with his crystal blade, causing them to disperse back. Tommy was first to return on the offense, using a series of jumping spin kicks to drive him back. Once he stopped, Exerion swung his sword at him, which Tommy carefully caught in his hands. Exerion then tugged his sword back, causing Tommy to stumble into a hard kick to the torso.

"Tommy!" Kat said, rushing to his aid. She briefly paused when he pointed his sword at her.

Exerion's attention was quickly refocused on the fight, as Rocky and T.J. came at him with flying kicks. He evaded them with a backspring, then turned around swinging his sword, narrowly missing Andros. He ducked a punch from the Kerovan, then drilled him with a kick to the jaw. He then stabbed towards T.J., who was able to catch his arm. He pulled him over his shoulder, but showing great agility, Exerion landed on his feet, then spun to catch him with a backfist with his free arm. Rocky charged at him with a double jumping kick that was blocked by his blade, then followed up with a spinning kick to the midsection. Exerion stumbled back a step, but feigned to be more hurt than he was, allowing him to surprise Rocky with a tornado kick.

"I must say, that was a little easier than I expected," said Exerion, twirling his sword again as he studied his handiwork, the Red Rangers struggling to get to their feet. His attention turned to Kat, who was helping Tommy and T.J., and she felt his gaze, turning to him with a glare ready to fight. He grinned her expression. "Now, don't tell my I have to fight such a beautiful woman. It'd be quite a shame."

"Don't you talk to her," Tommy warned, taking a protective step towards Exerion.

"If you want me to be quiet, I'm waiting for you to try and force my silence," he replied smugly.

Just after he finished his sentence, a yellow figure swooped down at him with powerful velocity, slashing at his chest, causing sparks to fly from an armor under his cloak. He gave a full spin from the strike, but stabbed his sword into the ground to prevent himself from losing his footing.

"Kira!" cried Tommy as the Yellow Ranger gracefully landed on the ground, weilding her Ptera Grips.

"So you're the guys that're attacking the Red Rangers? I suggest you give it up before I have to do more to save the day," she said, pointing with her weapons.

"A Yellow Ranger? Not originally part of the agenda, but interesting nonetheless," said Exerion as he took his sword out of the ground. He began to charge at Kira and proceeded to slash at her with precise swings, but she was able to successfully defend herself with her Ptera Grips. She absorbed the blow of the crystal blade with one of her daggers, and attempted to hit him with the other, but he was able to hop back in time. He then went for a higher swing, which she was able to duck under and swiftly connect with a reverse roundhouse kick to the back. He stumbled forward a step, but he quickly whisked around with a swipe from his sword, hitting Kira. She fell and rolled on the ground a bit, but didn't waste time in getting back to her feet.

"No more games!" she exclaimed, pulling her Thundermax Saber from her holster in blaster mode, and opened fire on Exerion. The crimson-haired warrior swatted away the beams with his sword, but the impact from the blasts were still driving him back. Kira didn't let up her assault, then aimed towards the ground in front of him. The resulting explosion was powerful enough to send him flying backwards.

Flashing a sinister smile, Exerion got back up with almost an easiness. "Not bad," he said, "but not quite." He raised his sword at the sky, and unleashed a stream of red electricity into the clouds above. A second later, several of the same thunderbolts crashed down on and around Kira, causing multiple explosions. As the smoke began to clear, everyone saw that she had been demorphed from the attack.

"Kira!" cried Trent as he began to run towards his fallen girlfriend. He'd been watching the battle from across the street, and quickly tended to her. He made sure she was okay, then turned and glared at Exerion, who looked on with a grin, with traces of amusement. "Back off," he warned.

Surprisingly, Exerion nodded. "The task is done. Correct?"

He looked up at his master Xiarayne, who also nodded. "You now know first-hand of our power. Remember it, for it will be soon that you will face us again, with more of our abilities envoked. Until then, Red Rangers."

And with that, and a final yell from Krista, the sphere vanished with a sparking cackle, as a red thunderbolt struck down on Exerion, teleporting him away as well.

"Krista!" Conner called out for her, still holding out his arm at the sky. A moment afterwards, it sunk in that she was gone, and he looked down at the ground, feeling a sickness inside. "Krista..."

The other rangers approached him slowly, and Tommy put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Conner had no reaction to it, but his former science teacher told him, "I'm really sorry." He then turned to the others, and said, "We have to sort this out. Come on."

- XXX -

Some fifteen minutes later, the rangers were all gathered inside Trent's mansion living room, with him and Kira sitting next to Conner, who hadn't said a word since the battle. The two explained that they'd been in the area when they saw people running, and quickly took it as a sign of danger. They ran to the source, and found the Red Rangers fighting Exerion without much success. With Kira being the only Dino Ranger with operating powers, only she was able to engage him.

"So Emily, Cassie, Ashley, and now Krista," said Tommy. "This is definitely a way to force us to fight him, and something tells me he's not going to stop the kidnappings with just them."

The others nodded, except Conner. "At first we thought the incident with Emily might've a one-time thing to possibly try and get Jason in his injured state to fight, but it seems that it's more than that now. We're going to have to warn the others to keep an eye out for their own loved ones, since they're targets in this battle," said Andros.

Trent turned to Conner, his head hung low, and eyes empty. "Hey, man, snap out of it. It's gonna be okay, alright?"

Conner gave no signs of having heard his words. Kira was about to offer some words as well, but T.J. walked up behind the couch they sat on, and put his hands on Conner's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Conner. Your girl wouldn't want you to be like this; she'd want you to be strong," he said in his optimistic and rallying voice. "I know it's not easy, but you gotta be strong. For her, and for yourself."

Conner let out a sigh, and nodded. He then stood up, and looked at Tommy straight in the eye. "We have to stop him, and get Krista and the others back."

Tommy nodded. "I know. I'll get to working on getting in touch with the rangers and letting them know what's going on with the kidnappings, and hopefully get through to Carter this time around."

Tommy, Kat, and the others started walking towards the door, but Trent stopped them. "Hey, you're gonna need a place for all the Red Rangers to stay. I think we've got more than enough room here."

The Red Rangers all turned to him with grateful stares, and nodded in thanks. Rocky looked at Tommy with an expecting glance, and he nodded, giving him the okay to stay at the Mercer mansion. T.J. decided to stay as well, as Tommy, Andros, and Kat all exited to return to his house at the edge of the woods to give the heartbreaking information to the other Red Rangers.


	9. Chapter 9

**- Chapter 9 -**

- Location Unknown -

Xiarayne and Exerion walked in a hallway in their base, with sunlight streaming in through the windows, windows that revealed the outside to be cliffside over a dark blue ocean. The two cloaked warriors glided through with their footsteps creating a low, hollow echo in the hall.

"Your performance against the Yellow Ranger was somewhat disappointing," Xiarayne spoke to his second-in-command.

"I'm sorry, master, but I went easy on her. You know I don't find it favorable to fight women," Exerion replied humbly.

"The battlefield offers no favors, Exerion. You can't allow something trivial like the gender of your opponent obstruct the path to victory."

"I know that full well, master," the crimson-haired man said, lowering his gaze, "but our war is with the Red Rangers. And I believe that I demonstrated enough to Dr. Oliver and Rocky DeSantos for them to understand that we are warriors of a different calibur - as first-hand experience to go along with the tales told to them by the original Red Ranger, as well as the Space and Turbo Rangers."

"You always seem to have the right words to allow yourself back in my good graces," Xiarayne noted with a smile. "So, how do you feel after the battle moments ago?"

"Fully replenished."

"Good. To Mariner Bay, then? Carter Grayson has returned."

"Let's welcome him, then," Exerion said with a smirk.

- XXX -

- Mariner Bay, CA -

It was that same day in Mariner Bay that Carter Grayson was walking through the neighborhood park. He had only just yesterday flown back into his city from a week-long vacation in Cancun, as for the past two months he'd been working on an autobiography, detailing his life as a child, young man, firefighter, and Power Ranger. It hadn't been his idea to write a book chronicling his adventures, but rather was coerced into doing it by some of the people he'd worked with, who imagined that a book written about a ranger would be very interesting for the public to read.

Carter hadn't bothered to unpack his belongings yet. He would rather take a day to welcome Mariner Bay back into his life than sort through clothing and start his laptop again to continue writing, and probably look to meet up with his Lightspeed teammates. Over the last seven years, the team had become slightly distanced, with gatherings happening few and far between. This had been saddening to the Red Ranger, as he had formed powerful bonds with the five others, some even tied on to his heartstrings when it came to certain blonde in pink. He realized, though, that life would continue for the team, and often times getting together with friends wasn't a daily thing.

The firefighter came to sit down at a park table, and looked around as he pulled out a notepad and pencil. Despite finding his writing tiring sometimes, he found the park to be a nice place to come and scribble a few notes here and there. Today, though, he was becoming distracted by a young couple sitting at another table across the park. He couldn't make out their faces, but the man wore a red shirt and had short brown hair, and the woman had on a pink shirt and blonde hair.

He observed them for a moment as his mind drifted off to the woman he'd been in love with for seven years, but never acted on his feelings. He then snapped out of it daydream, and remembered what he was going to do. Looking down at the notepad, he lightly tapped it with the eraser of his pencil, but couldn't think of something to write down. He then felt someone sit on the same side of the bench as he did, and he looked over at his guest, a smile coming over his face when he was who it was.

"Ryan! How've you been?" Carter asked, delighted to see his old friend, holding out his hand.

"I've been good," Ryan Mitchell responded, also grinning. "So when did you get back from Cancun?"

"Just yesterday."

"And you didn't bother to call or anything?" Ryan asked.

"I didn't want to bother any of you guys," he replied, pocketing his pencil.

"Were you working on your book?" Ryan asked as Carter also put away his notepad.

"I was trying to, but nothing was coming to me. So how's your band coming?"

"Really good," Ryan replied. After the demons had been defeated in Mariner Bay, Ryan had ventured into the musical world, finding a hidden talent in singing. He formed a band a few years back called Manic Mind, and was getting ready for the release of their first CD. "We're in the studio just polishing a few things, but we're almost done."

"Good to hear," said Carter. Ryan looked on at him with something of an expecting glance, making him feel slightly more uncomfortable with the question he wanted to ask. A second later, he did. "So, how's your sister?"

"I think she's alright," said Ryan in a way that was joking, but also with hints of a seriousness. "I can't be too sure; maybe you should ask her yourself."

He looked off to the side, and Carter turned his head to see. Seated at a bench in front of the fountain in the middle of the park was their Lightspeed Ranger teammate, and Ryan's younger sister, Dr. Dana Mitchell. She'd been watching the two for a moment, and gave Carter a smile and a wave once he saw her. He returned both, as she got up and walked over to where the two men sat.

"Hey Carter," she said, giving him a small hug. "So, how was your week away?" she asked as she took a seat at the table across from him and Ryan.

"It was fine, but I think it could've been better," he said. "I think it was missing something, I suppose is the best way to put it."

"Like company?" Ryan suggested almost slyly. "Vacations are always better when you've got someone to enjoy them with you."

Carter took a quick glance at Dana, but then back at her brother when he saw her looking back at him with an expression he couldn't quite place. "Yeah, I guess."

Things were quiet for a moment between the three, then Ryan patted Carter on the shoulder. He noticed that he was wearing his Titanium Morpher on his wrist. "Anywho, I'm gonna go get a drink," he said with a grin, looking between the two. "I'll let you guys catch up."

"Why are you wearing your morpher?" Carter asked as he began walking away.

"For the band. Promotional purposes," Ryan answered, raising his wrist to flash it off. He then continued on his way towards the drinking fountain pretty far from where he was sitting at.

Carter and Dana then turned to each other with looks, not really knowing what to say to each other. "So..." Carter began, not wanting to get into the subject of work. "... How's work?"

"It's good," she replied, putting on a smile, even though there was a hint of something not happiness in her expression. "I've been treating the sweetest little boy lately. He's always wearing a fireman's helmet; he kind of reminds me of you a little." Carter nodded in thanks, the softness in Dana's voice making his heart pound a little faster in his chest. "And how's your book coming along?"

"Fine," he replied, glad to have gotten off the page he wanted to avoid but then started writing. "I got a lot done over the last week, just a bit more to write before I think it'll be finished."

"How are you planning to finish it?" she asked with a small, expectant smile.

"I'm not sure yet," he admitted. The next words he mentioned where said as soon as they came to him, with no time to think about how to word them in a way he felt proper. "I'm hoping I'd have a happy ending to write."

This caused Dana's smile to shyly widen, with Carter quickly feeling regret over it. It was at this moment that Ryan returned, taking his seat next to Carter. Knowing something was up, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet. "Hey Dana, could you go buy us some hot dogs from that vendor over there?" he asked casually, holding out a five to her. "Thanks."

Dana looked at him with a suspicious glint in her eyes, but accepted the money and got up to walk to the vendor. Ryan then turned to Carter, and asked, "So, are you gonna ask her out or not?"

Carter looked at him, caught off-guard by the question. After a moment, he was able to say unconvincingly, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please," Ryan rolled his eyes. "It's obvious you like Dana, Carter, so why not ask her out? I'm sure she'll say yes."

Having heard these words made a confidence arise withing Carter, but also a sense of caution. "How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because I'm her brother, and I can tell," the Titanium Ranger replied. "Look, over the past few years, she hasn't been able to have a serious boyfriend, not one that she kept for over a month. And do you know why? It's because she's in love with you, and she's sort of been holding out on hope that maybe one day you'll ask her out. She's kept that hope alive for seven years now, Carter; don't you think it's time to do what both of you want?"

Carter considered what he just said, thinking about several aspects. He himself hadn't been able to keep a girlfriend for very long either, and he had been in love with Dana since their days as the Lightspeed Rangers. He thought about why he never had asked her out on a date, and it was because he felt very vulnerable around her, sapping at the courage once faced with having to spend eternity in the underworld.

He then looked at Ryan with a determined gaze, and Ryan grinned. He patted him on the shoulder, and got up to meet the returning Dana. He took his hot dog from her, and began to walk over to a soda machine by the water fountain he previously drank from, turning to give Carter a grin and a wink. Dana took her seat next to Carter again, and gave him his food.

"You were the one that just liked ketchup and mustard, right? Or was that Chad?" she wondered.

"That was me," he said. The two began to eat their hot dogs, Dana a little more enthusiastically than Carter, until the Red Ranger stopped for a moment. He gathered himself fully before looking at her directly into her eyes, and asked, "Dana, would you... like to go out with me? Just the two of us... on a date?"

For a second, Dana stared at him, then began to beam, a large smile spreading across her face. "I'd love to," she said with a small nod.

Carter also began to smile at her agreeing, although it was instinctive, as in his mind, he was finding the situation almost surreal. Finally he snapped back into his state of thought, and asked, "So, when are you available?"

"I'm off again in a week," Dana replied. She was just as ecstatic to be going on a date with Carter, the strong firefighter she'd fallen for as they fought demons to save the world years ago.

The two began to lay a foundation for their first date with uncharacteristically giddy attitudes, as Ryan watched the two grin from the new seat he'd taken at a bench closer to the vending machine. As he took a drink of his bottle of green tea, he noticed a man dressed in all black, laying across a branch of the tree close to where they sat, with his back against the trunk, his face hidden by the slight wind blowing his long crimson hair in front of it. He found this man slightly odd at first, then went back to surveying his sister and friend. He got up after finishing his hot dog, and walked over to where they were.

Carter and Dana regained their usual cool composures as he came up with a big grin, and sat down next to his sister this time. "So, when's the first date?"

The three then heard a malicious chuckle, and looked over to a nearby tree. They spotted a man in black leaning against the truck as he sat on a branch, the one Ryan saw before. He moved his legs to the side to face the rangers, and moved his hair behind his ears as he smirked at the rangers. "As I'm sure you Power Rangers know, life is truly unpredictable. Here you are making plans to spend an evening together to develop a romance, when in a week's time you'll instead be fighting to save the ones you hold closest to your heart."

"What're you talking about? Who are you?" Carter demanded, already feeling the adrenaline begin to stream in his system as he watched the man fall back, flipping down and landing on his feet gracefully.

"My name's Exerion," he answered arrogantly, furthering his reply by materializing his red crystal sword in his left hand. "Dr. Oliver will have to inform you of the rest - once we finish here." He snapped his fingers, and a violet thunderbolt hit the ground behind him, with a large group of armored warriors appearing in battling position.

The three stood up, unsure of the situation, but they took up their own fighting stances. Exerion pointed his sword at Ryan, and said, "Leave him to me." He then gave his blade a flourish, signaling his monsters to charge.

Carter kicked the first oncoming monster in the midsection, then blocked a punch and struck back as they began to circle him and Dana. He sidestepped another punch, grabbing the warrior by the armor and sending him tackling shoulder-first into one of its own, then tornado-kicked a warrior into another, both toppling over. Dana caught a punch, and while twisting the warrior's arm, she took down two monsters with a double kick, then flipped the one she held. She then cartwheeled past a creature, then spun in place with a reverse roundhouse kick to shut down another two.

Meanwhile, Exerion swung at Ryan, which he was closely avoiding. He then turned around and jumped onto a table, then jumped and turned back with a flying roundhouse. Exerion blocked it with his blade, and Ryan rolled when he hit the ground, making space between the two. It was here that he raised his morpher, without taking his eyes off the villian.

"Titanium Power!" he yelled, and morphed. It was the first time he'd been in suit for several years, and it was good to feel the rush of energy surge through him again. His thoughts quickly returned to Exerion, who smirked confidently at him.

The villian ran two fingers along the flat part of his crystal blade, causing it to glow a deep red. He then swung it at Ryan, releasing the glow as a crescent wave flying fast at the Titanium Ranger. In a flash, Ryan summoned his Titanium Laser in axe mode, and sliced the wave in two. They then charged at each other, with Exerion slashing at Ryan with his sword. He parried the blows, then went for a high kick aimed at his head. Exerion ducked under, then struck Ryan across the chest, sending sparks scattering. It hurt him, but he didn't let it phase him in the fight, swinging his axe at him. Exerion blocked his attacks, stepping back to dodge the last, then both men went for a kick at the same time. The two then butterfly-twisted back to create some distance, and to figure out their next moves in their battle, clearly being challenged by the other's fighting prowess.

Carter and Dana were fending off the warriors with some success, but were tiring, not used to this level of activity, or having their morphers to supply themselves with power. Dana kicked away a monster, but then felt herself being grabbed from behind. She stomped down on the creature's foot, causing it to loosen its grip, then elbowed it in the midsection. She turned to connect with a backfist, then kicked behind her to strike another in the abdomen. She turned and leap-frogged over the bent-over warrior, then turned and kicked it to send it stumbling into another. Carter punched a monster in the face, then took another out with an uppercut. He then threw a kick that the creature caught, and flipped him in the air. He was able to land akwardly on his feet, but kicked again, this time without being stopped. He then sweeped the next monster to step up, and sidestepped another punch to land an elbow to the back of its head.

Exerion and Ryan were again locked in a battle of swings and slashes, their weapons ringing as they continuously clashed. Exerion vertically slashed at Ryan, who blocked the attack, then jumped up to kick him in the chest, back-flipping off as Exerion rolled backwards, back onto his feet. Ryan landed from his jump onto the ground, then hopped onto the table where he was sitting previously. He changed his Titanium Laser to blaster mode, and fired a barrage of energy at Exerion. He swung away some of the blasts, then began to spin his sword rapidly to form a sort of shield. His crystal blade seemed to absorb Ryan's blasts, causing it glow, and once Ryan noted this, he stopped firing. It was a little too late, as Exerion continued to spin his sword, and unleashed a vortex of red lightning bolts at the Titanium Ranger. He was sent flying back several yards with sparks erupting from his torso, and demorphed after landing hard on the grass.

Exerion watched him clutch as his chest for a second, then turned to see how his minions were faring against Carter and Dana. They saw them bounce Carter amongst themselves with kicks, the last one sending him crashing into a tree, and then grab Dana after she let her guard down as she ran towards him as he slumped against the trunk. She fought and struggled, but couldn't overcome their hold. Ryan saw this as well, and rose to his feet as fast as his aching body would allow, and only took two steps before Exerion pointed his sword at him, coming close to getting impaled.

"You were a powerful opponent, Titanium Ranger," he commented, "but our task is done." With those words, another purple thunderbolt struck the warriors and Dana, teleporting them away. Ryan's eyes widened at this, then turned back to Exerion with a fury. "Now I'm sure you want to get your sister back, but our war is only with the Red Rangers, and we won't allow outside help. So tell your friend Carter to get into contact with Dr. Oliver, and hope for the best."

Ryan snarled, and was about to kick the sword out of the way before a red thunderbolt crashed on him, teleporting him back as well. He just stared at the empty space where he stood a second ago, then jogged back towards Carter, who was beginning to get back to his feet, with help from the tree he was flung into.

"They took Dana," he said. Carter looked up at him with a worried look in his eyes, which soon turned to frustration, then calculation.

"What did he say to you?" he asked, as he'd noted through his blurry mind that Exerion and Ryan stood in the same positions for a few seconds, in what he presumed was talking.

"He said that I can't help her. Only you and the Red Rangers," Ryan answered. "And to get in contact with Dr. Oliver."

Carter nodded, Tommy being the first person to come to mind as he took in the situation. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, then looked over at Ryan with a solemn expression. "I'll get Dana back. I promise."

Ryan nodded, trusting in his words. The two then began to walk from the scene, going on their way to retrieve Carter's morpher, and to set him on his way to Reefside.


	10. Chapter 10

- Chapter 10 -

- Silver Hills, CA -

It was later in the evening of that same day that Eric Myers and Taylor Earhardt went out to dinner at one of the classiest restaurants in Silver Hills. Despite the two having been in a relationship for six years, it wasn't often that they went out to luxurious restaurants that enforced a strict dress code. Taylor brought this up as they walked up the entryway, past an elegant fountain, after giving their car to the valet.

"I really like the suit," she commented, then playfully added, "it makes you look snazzy."

"'Snazzy'?" Eric asked. He was wearing a simple black suit with a white dress shirt underneath, with a red-and-black striped tie. "Now I know for sure that I look ridiculous."

"Oh, come on," said Taylor as the two walked up to the greeter. Eric gave them their names, and after checking the reservations list, he led them on a brief trip to their table. Once they were seated and the greeter returned to his podium by the door, she continued. "It's nice to see you out of the Silver Guardians uniform, and the casual shirt and jeans and stuff." Eric eyed her dubiously, causing her to place her hand on his as it rested over his silverware, and give him her best sincere smile. "I'm serious. I really do think you look nice. You look very handsome."

Eric could tell she was being honest, and a smile slowly appeared on his face as he admired the way Taylor was dressed for the evening. She was wearing a yellow cocktail dress, with some sparkling adornments on it, as well a topaz pendant he'd given her for their third anniversary as a couple. Her long blonde hair was loose, but the ends and a few of her bang strands had been curled in a spiral fashion. "Thanks," he said, then added a second later, "You look beautiful, too."

Taylor gave him a rare girlish smile as the waiter came in to take their drink orders. Even though the two had softened each other's hearts to a large degree after beginning their relationship, they were still people who wore their tough exteriors proudly, and it wasn't often they showed a certain level of emotion, even with each other.

When her smile disappeared, it was replaced with a look of seriousness. "So... when are you leaving for Reefside?"

Eric shook his head at her. "Oh no, we're not talking about this right now, okay? I want to spend a nice evening with my girl, with no talk about Power Rangers or evil aliens or kidnapping, or anything, alright? Just eating, and talking about how things are going, old stories, those kinds of things."

Taylor nodded, agreeing, but then gave him a stare. It was serious about an answer, but also had a hint of teasing to help coerce Eric.

"Wes and I are leaving in two days," he gave in. "He wanted to leave tomorrow, but I got him to agree for the day after. We've had this date night planned for almost a month; it'd be too ironic for it to be our last night out in Silver Hills."

After that, the two enjoyed their dinner, talking about light conversation pieces as Eric wanted. He could tell that Taylor was definitely enjoying herself throughout their meal, especially when the waiters brought out the dessert he'd specifically ordered from them beforehand for her, chocolate-coated cheesecake, her favorite. But he could tell that something was lingering in her mind, and he had a suspicion it had something to do with the call Wes gave him, about how the villians opposing the Red Rangers were apparently kidnapping loved ones. He knew that Taylor had always been a strong woman, capable of taking care of herself, but it was hard to rest easy with these kinds of threats. He himself was worrying about her safety, especially considering he would be leaving her in two days, but he was pushing those thoughts out of his mind for the time being, to have fun with his girlfriend on their night out.

After they ate, they walked outside, hand in hand. They took a stroll around the spacious restaurant grounds, before coming back to where they started, the fountain close to the entrance that they used. They looked at it for a few seconds, the small lights surrounding the base giving the falling water a magical glow. Eric then turned to Taylor with a smile, and she turned to him as well. He leaned in and kissed her, then broke away after a moment. He reached into his pants pocket, and brought out a coin, which he held out to her.

"Make a wish," he said as she accepted it.

Taylor gave him another mixed grin, this one of amusement for his cheesiness, and appreciation for his attempt at romance. "I wish for..." she said, purposely not finishing, and flipped the coin into the air. However, it never landed in the water, as a thin red lightning bolt struck it in mid-air, sending it flying away into the night.

The two immediately turned towards where the blast came from, and saw a man in a black cloak, grinning at them from a grassy area towards another entrance to the restaurant. The people that were outside began running and screaming when they saw him, as well as his sword. The only ones that didn't run were the former Power Rangers, who assumed their fighting stance.

"So, you're the guy that wants to take out the Red Rangers, huh?" Eric demanded. He eyed him, not at all impressed by his appearance, aside from the blade he wielded in his left hand, apparently made of crystal. "You don't look so tough."

"Maybe not," Exerion said, keeping his confident smirk. "But appearances can be deceiving. I don't suppose you'd take me for the kind that would defeat several veteran Power Rangers in one day, would you? Because I've had an eventful day."

This caused the two to frown at him, but Taylor kept her composure. "So, are you Xiarayne, or his lackey?"

The villian's grin grew at the question. "My name's Exerion. A lackey to you rangers, perhaps, but a loyal friend and follower to my master. But," he said, lifting his sword to point at her, "enough of the pleasantries. I'm here for the girl."

Eric stepped forward defensively, taking off his suit jacket. "There's no way I'm gonna let you take her."

"I was hoping you'd say something like that," he replied, waiting another second for Eric to unbutton his sleeves and roll them up his wrists. He then charged at the villian with a swing, which he ducked. Eric then used his momentum to throw a kick, but Exerion bent back to dodge. Eric didn't let up, staying on the offense with several punches and kicks, all of which were evaded or blocked. Eric suspected that he was falling into Exerion's game plan, since he was making no attempts to fight back, and backed off.

"That's all?" the villian asked smugly, twirling his sword.

Eric snarled, and instinctively rushed back into battle. He pressed forward with a kicked that Exerion blocked with his blade, but still caused him to take a step back. He grinned, and went for a tornado kick, that Eric ducked under. However, displaying great agility, Exerion landed on his kicking leg, and spun again tom Exerion.o connect with a kick to Eric's chest, sending him to the ground.

Taylor watched the two fight from a distance, angry at the fact that Eric was losing against the crimson-haired warrior, but even moreso that she wasn't able to help, given her restricting dress. She clenched her fists, urging Eric to get back up after being knocked down with that impressive kick.

Eric ran at Exerion, and feigned a punch, but was instead able to sweep him, knocking him against the ground. The way Exerion was able to kick-up back onto his feet a second after connecting with the ground was an indicator that he wasn't much hurt by the move. He gave Eric a grin of smug approval, then a red sphere enveloped him. Eric looked on a little confused, but it turned out to be a mistake, as the sphere exploded around the villian, unleashing a powerful electric shockwave that sent both Eric and Taylor flying back, stunned, and rocked the surrounding fountain and foliage as well.

"Come now, Quantum Ranger. This is almost too easy," he remarked. "If you only had your morpher, you might be able to fare better against me. The ending of our fight wouldn't change, as I'll leave with the girl, but at the very least, it'd be more fun for me."

"You talk too much," Eric commented through clenched teeth, partially numb from the last attack from him. He got to a knee, and pushed off it to get back to his feet. "And there's no way I'll let you take Taylor."

Exerion chuckled. "I beg to differ. I will take your girlfriend, but you'll get your chance to get her back. What sort of legendary war my master and myself be waging against the Red Rangers would this be if we finished you right now, or completely broke your hope? We take your loved ones to shake your foundation. That way, you are disheartened, but remain on your feet to keep fighting, and follow us into battle again. Then, then we destroy you."

Eric forced a grin as he supported Taylor on her feet, both glaring at him. "You think you're the first guys to come along and make these kinds of threats and promises? You're not, and you never win."

"Streaks are meant to be broken; rules always have an exception," said Exerion in a calm menace. He then fired a lighning bolt from his sword at the fountain, destroying the top portion. Water began to spray everywhere, landing on him and the rangers. He grinned, and fired off another bolt, the electricty traveling through the water on the air and ground, as well as the three, electrocuting them. Taylor and Eric fell again in a heap, clothes smoldering. Exerion, however, remained standing, a wincing smirk on his face. "That was my best attempt to not exceptionally harm you. I overly defeated the original Red Ranger, something my master wasn't too pleased about."

The two rangers were suffering from mild paralysis, just able to to move their head. Eric's eyes followed Exerion as he casually strode over to his girlfriend, and he spat out at him fiercely, but almost incoherently due to no feeling in his body, "Get away from her."

Exerion gave him a smirk, and came down to a knee to grab Taylor by the arm. She attempted to fight back, but she felt as if she was encased in something conforming to her body, unable to move away. Still, her face contorted to a deadly gaze aimed up at the villian, who turned his smug grin on her, just as a red thunderbolt struck the two, taking them away from the restaurant lawn.

A second later, after the patrons made sure that the threat was gone, they rushed towards the fallen Eric, still immobile. They helped him back inside the building, trying to do whatever they could to help him. After a few minutes, he got up from the chair they placed him on, and demanded to be taken to a telephone, ignoring the advice that he should sit down and wait for help from the hospital.

After an eater complied with what the Quantum Ranger barked and lended him his phone, as his own had been damaged beyond use when he was electrecuted, he called his best friend as he walked into a secluded corner of the restaurant, the people deciding to back off and let him talk in peace.

"They took Taylor, Wes," he said, anger and sadness and frustration built in his throat as he said the words.

Wes remained silent for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry." Things were quiet between the partners for another moment, then Wes added, "I'll let Tommy know that we'll be in Reefside tomorrow."

Eric knew Wes was waiting for some kind of response, so he gave him an angry "Okay", and ended the call.


	11. Chapter 11

**- Chapter 11 -**

- Blue Bay Harbor -

It was the following day, after the three kidnappings by Xiarayne and Exerion within mere hours. This hung heavy on the mind of Shane Clarke as he hung out at his friend Kelly's extreme sports store, Storm Chargers, playing a skateboarding video game. Despite not being as focused as usual, he was doing incredibly well, on his way to capturing a new record. His best friend, Dustin Brooks, took a seat next to him on the couch, opening up a motocross magazine with an article on their friend and former ranger ally Blake Bradley winning a prestigious championship.

"So when are you leaving to meet with Dr. O, bro?" asked Dustin, wondering if Blake would be willing to bet the enormous trophy he held up in one of the pictures in a race against him.

"Doctor? Are you okay, Shane?" Kelly asked from behind her counter. "Also Dustin, your break ended ten minutes ago."

"Yeah, I'm good. He's a friend of ours, from Reefside. Just going to go visit him tomorrow to... catch up," Shane explained quickly. "Get back to work, man."

"But I'm not done yet," Dustin grumbled quietly, standing up and leaving the magazine where he was sitting. He walked over to the helmet rack and began to sort them by color.

"Okay, then," said Kelly, a little disappointed by not getting the truth. She could always tell that Shane and the others kept things from her, and it made her a little sad that they didn't seem to trust her enough with what they did. She often thought about what it was that they did, and if it was something that would get them in trouble one day, but decided to stay out of their business, still holding on to hope that one day they'd tell her themselves.

A short while later, Shane lost at his game after only being a few hundred points shy of his old record, as Kelly had flipped through order catalogs while she simultaneously kept an eye on Dustin to make sure he was doing something. The Red Ranger shut off the TV and game system, and turned to her. "Hey Kelly, when were you supposed to get that new shipment of boards?"

"They came in this morning," she replied with slight puzzlement, then turned to Dustin with an exasperated look. "Didn't I tell you to stock the new arrivals?"

"Yeah," he said, then offered the apologetic smile that had gotten him out of trouble with her for years. He hurried along to the back of the store, and found the boxes labeled with the manufacturers' logos. He bent to pick them up, but as he did, he noticed a figure, partially hidden by the shadows, near the door leading to the outside.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be back here," he called.

He started walking towards the person, but was then kicked in the midsection for his troubles. He stumbled back, into a steel holding rack, causing a loud clang, catching the attention of Shane and Kelly, who'd been talking across the counter.

"What're you doing -" she started, walking into the back. She stopped in her tracks and sentence when she saw the armored warrior slowly walking towards Dustin, who was bent over, holding his stomach.

Shane then made his way through the door to the back, and joined the two in the back. He scowled once he saw the armored warrior, and he and Dustin assumed their fighting stances. "Kelly, get out of here," he instructed.

"But what about you guys?" she asked. Just then, in a flash of voilet light, more of the creatures appeared, filling most of the back room.

"We got this, dudette," said Dustin, his confidence only slightly hampered by the new additions. Kelly was reluctant in listening, only looking at her friends with concern. Dustin quickly turned to her and repeated, "We got this! Just go!"

Kelly gave them a last look as she began to slink behind the two, then turned and headed back to the front of the store, the warrior's eyes following her out as they shifted their heads. They then turned back to the rangers, and ran at them, but the ninja instructors leaped over them, careful not to hit the ceiling. They landed with a roll on the ground, and got back to their feet with raised fists.

Shane then noticed that they door to the outside was now behind them, and turned to open it. "Not enough room here," he said, quickly moving to the outside, Dustin following closely. They made enough space as the warriors spilled out as well, and Shane was the first on the attack. He struck one with a kick, then ducked under a right swung, countering with a sweep. Dustin connected with a tornado kick, then caught a punch to flip the monster. He spun to the side to avoid a kick, and with his momentum was able to deliver a backfist. Shane was able to duck under a high kick by carefully falling onto his back, then quickly springing back to his feet to punch the monster in the face

The warriors then began to move back in a retreat as the rangers smirked, thinking they were finished. But it turned out to be a ploy, as the orbs in the center of their chests began to glow, and they fired purple beams at them. However, the rangers had expected a move like that, and used their ninja streak to jump high into the air, avoiding the blasts. Once they came back down, Shane put his palms together. "That's pretty cool," he said, "but here's something that'll really blow you away!" With that, he unleashed a powerful spiral of wind at them, knocking them against the wall.

"No matter how many times you use it, that line always works, dude," Dustin commented, leaning and resting his arm on Shane's shoulder as they grinned. But their smiles faded as the warriors began to climb to their feet, with their wrist guantlets glowing, the blades lengthening.

- XXX -

Just as the brawl had begun between Shane and Dustin and the monsters in her shop, Kelly was running down the street, going a few blocks before bursting into her friend Tori Hanson's custom surfboards shop.

"Tori!" she called for the Blue Wind Ranger as she came to the counter, grabbing ahold of it to stop herself and catch her breath.

"What's wrong?" she asked from behind it, closing the register that she was counting money in, already having a suspicion based on what Shane had told her about what was going on with the Red Rangers.

"They guys, they're fighting off a group of monsters back at my shop," she said through a pant, setting her red hair back in place.

The two customers in the shop looked over in concern at Kelly's words, as did Marah and Kapri, who were showing the two young men a selection of surfboards across the wall. They decided that right now wasn't the time to make a purchase, and exited the store in a reserved rush. Marah, Dustin's girlfriend, and Kapri, who'd been flirting with one of the boys, walked over to the counter, eager for an explanation.

Once Kelly was finished telling the scenario, Tori looked at the three with a stern look. "Okay, Marah, Kapri, you two stay here and run the shop. Kelly, can I count on you make sure nothing happens here?"

"What're you going to do?" Kelly asked.

"I'm gonna go help the guys."

"Us too!" Kapri chimed in.

"We wanna help!" Marah added.

Kelly looked at the three uneasily. "No offense, but what can you guys do?"

"Just stay here," Tori ordered, then gave the sisters a sharp look. "The three of you." She then headed to the back of her store, and quickly opened her locker. She grabbed her purse and searched inside for her Wind Morpher, retrieving it and strapping it onto her wrist. She then used her ninja streak to race out of her store, and to the back lot of Storm Chargers, where Shane and Dustin where fighting a losing battle against several armored monsters.

She interjected herself into the melee with her ninja streak, taking out several of the warriors with lightning-fast moves. Once most of them were down, she stopped in front of the friends, and asked without turning to them, "You guys okay?"

"We've been better," Dustin replied, wincing.

"I'll take it from here," she said, taking her fighting stance.

Before she could head back into battle, a red thunderbolt crashed into the ground just in front of the remaining warriors, and a black-cloaked warrior with crimson hair now stood where it struck, grinning at the three rangers. "Hello there," Exerion called out, twirling his crystal sword. "So, the cavalry's arrived. This should be fun."

He pointed his sword at Tori, instructing his warriors to attack. As they charged, the Blue Ranger moved her arms in a circular motion, bubbly water trailing as she summoned her element, then put her palms together to blast powerful jets at the warriors, sending them flying back. Exerion unmercilessly struck away any of the monsters that came his way.

"Impressive," said Exerion, "but I suggest morphing to take me on. Your water powers won't have as much effect."

Tori smirked as she raised her morpher, happy to comply. "NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM! HA!"

"Be careful, Tori," Shane warned. Dustin then pointed out that the remaining warriors were fleeing the scene, in the direction of Tori's shop, where Kelly and the sisters were. They took off, following them to prevent them from causing more damage.

Tori unsheathed her Ninja Sword. "Didn't think I'd be morphing again so soon," she commented as she and Exerion circled each other. It hadn't even been three weeks since her powers had been restored by the Sentinal Knight to be a Retro Ranger.

"If you want to run, now's the time," said Exerion with a brandish of his blade.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing," she replied smartly.

They ran at each other, and Tori rolled under a horizontal slash, then tried a sweep that Exerion evaded. Their swords clashed, steel on crystal, with the two pushing forward, trying to overpower each other. He then pushed her weapon to the side, and swung at her midsection. Tori recovered quickly, then kicked away another attack, responding by slashing across his chest, sending him back a few steps. He launched lightning bolts at her from his free hand, but she flipped back to evade them. She combined her Ninja Sword with its sheath to form its blaster mode, then began to fire at Exerion, who gracefully sidestepped the blasts, almost dancing around them. The sparks from the beams hitting the ground around him kept her from his sight, and she used this to her advantage, using the ninja streak to hit him multiple times.

Under the barrage, Exerion timed and anticipated the attacks, then blocked the forthcoming one with his sword. He slashed out at her, with Tori ducking under the blade, but he spun in place with a roundhouse kick that connected, sending her staggering. The Blue Ranger came back at him with an assorted variety of kicks of her own, but he ducked, dodged, and blocked all of them, catching her by the foot on the last one. He flipped her, but as she turned in the air, Tori began to fire beams from her morpher, striking him as sparks flew from his underarmor. He didn't seem to show much pain over the blasts, however, as he merey winced as he gave her a grin.

"You're pretty good," he said.

"You're not so bad yourself," Tori replied. "Maybe we should even the playing field a little, though."

She put her hands together, and used her ninja powers again, this time making the street turn into a lane of water. She stayed on the surface as Exerion fell under, and smirked inside her helmet as she prepared to strike. However, light began to shine under the water, and a small explosion went off as Exerion reappeared, flying several feet high.

"Big mistake," he called out. He fired off lightning bolts from his sword as he slowly descended, the entire area of water sizzling as it was electrecuted, along with Tori, who yelled in pain.

The water disappeared as she collapsed, her visor opened, revealing her face to Exerion. He strided over and bent down, offering his hand to help her up, feeling a pang of guilt at having hurt the beautiful young woman. She left him hanging, causing him to smirk, and turn to head down the street.

"Wait," she said, struggling to get to her feet in her numbness. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To collect my prize. I won," he said with an edge of malice. A thunderbolt hit him as he teleported away.

- XXX -

Five minutes later, Tori wasn't halfway down the street as she staggered to her shop when she spotted two figures in red and yellow, also walking with evident pain. She met up with Shane and Dustin a minute later on the sidewalk, where their defeated faces now lowering her hopes even more. "What happened, guys?"

Dustin looked down at the ground as he slumped against the side of the building they stood next to, so Shane took it upon himself to answer. "We managed to take care of the monsters outside of your shop, but then that guy with the red hair that you were fighting showed up, and he beat us." He paused for a moment, then added, "He took the girls. Kelly, Marah, Kapri."

Tori absorbed the information, looking over at Dustin with sorrow. "I'm really sorry, Dustin," she said. She thought about putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, but decided that he'd more than likely shrug her off, so she turned to Shane. "And this is all because of that Xiarayne guy that's coming for the Red Rangers, right?"

He nodded. "I should've figured that he would try something like this," he said angrily. "Dr. O told me he was kidnapping girlfriends and wives, but I thought since I don't have one, they wouldn't try anything like this with me." He growled as he kicked the wall, which seemed to snap Dusting out of his haze. The Yellow Ranger got off the building, but still didn't offer any words as he looked at his friends.

Tori sighed. "This is my fault. I should've known that using water against him when he used thunder attacks would've been stupid," she said. "I almost had him."

"It's not your fault, Tori. And it's not yours, either, Shane," said Dustin with a new determination. "They just managed to beat us this time. But we're the Power Rangers; this kind of stuff happens to us all the time. But it always works out in the end, right? So that's what we're gonna have to do."

Shane and Tori were glad to see Dustin riled up and ready to get the girls back, but both knew the truth. "Dustin, man, I'm sorry, but this isn't your battle. They came after the girls because I'm a Red Ranger, and I'm gonna have to be the one to team up with the others to beat these guys."

Dustin frowned. Deep down he knew what the situation was, but didn't want to accept it readily. "He took Marah, Shane! I'm not just gonna sit around and do nothing! I can't do that!"

"You're going to have to, though," said Tori in a comforting voice. "This is out of your control. I wanna help just as much as you do, but this is for the Red Rangers to handle."

"There's gotta be something we can do to help, man," he said, his demeanor softening as acceptance sunk in. He then turned to Shane, and said, "Well, I know you and the other Red Rangers, you guys are more than capable of getting them back. So bring her back safely, okay, dude? Bring them all back safely."

Shane nodded. "Alright. I'll go get Hunter and let him know what's happened, and then we'll be on our way to Reefside." He looked at his two friends, Tori giving him a hopeful smile, Dustin trying to do the same. He put out his fist for them to pound, then returned their smiles, and vanished in a streak.


	12. Chapter 12

**- Chapter 12 -**

- Reefside, CA -

"...Three girls? I'm sorry to hear that, man. So you're on your way? What about Hunter?...Okay, so you guys should be here in about an hour, right?... Alright, meet us at Trent's mansion when you get in Reefside, it's where all the Red Rangers are staying. You remember how to get there, right?... Okay, I'll see you guys there. Bye."

"Three girls?" Kat asked from the kitchen as Tommy hung up his cell phone and placed it on the coffee table.

He rubbed his forehead as he nodded. "Marah and Kapri and Kelly. Friends of theirs. Good thing Shane's decided not to waste anymore time in getting together with us; he's on his way now with Hunter." He sighed, then added, "Man, it's getting really serious now, Kat. Three yesterday, three today."

"So after Shane and Hunter, how many more Red Rangers do you guys need to be completely together?" she asked as she walked into the living room and took a seat next to him on the couch. She was still trying to sort out the Xiarayne/Exerion mess as much as Tommy, while also trying to remember all of the involved rangers' names.

Tommy took a second to answer. "Cole got here yesterday with his powers already intact, Carter arrived last night, while Wes and Eric got here this morning. That just leaves Shane and Hunter, who should be here soon, and Nick Russel, the Red Mystic Ranger that I still haven't been able to contact yet, which is a huge problem. Look at what happened to Carter; he was caught completely off-guard." He then got a look of forgetfulness, and took another second to remember who he'd forgotten. "Oh yeah, and Mack Hartford, the current Red Ranger of the Operation Overdrive team. I asked Hayley for his contact information a few days ago, and I still haven't given him a call."

He picked his phone back off the table, and walked moved a few things around the table until he found a small scrap of paper. He turned it so the numbers were upright to him, and dialed. He held it up to his ear, and waited for a few seconds until he heard a voice with a British accent on the line.

"Hello? Can I speak with Mack Hartford please?... Not home? Who is this?... Okay, Spencer, can you give him this message? There's an evil force targeting Red Rangers - I'm Tommy Oliver, I'm a Power Ranger myself... Yes, that Tommy. Please, when you get ahold of him, let him know that there's an evil force targeting Red Rangers and Red Rangers only, so tell him to be on guard if he happens to be out alone. We'll send for him as soon as possible. Thanks, bye."

He hung up, then sighed as he rested his head against the couch back, looking up at his ceiling. Kat then rested her head on his shoulder, looking up as well. "This is really bothering you, isn't it, Tommy?"

His sighed again, and gently began to run his fingers through her hair. "It's not that I have to ranger up again. You know, some days I even wondered when I'd do it again. It'd been three years since the Dino Rangers beat Mesogog and saved Reefside, and since then, I've always had that question in the back of my head: when would I need to morph again. And in that part of my head, just like I'm sure every other ranger out there, we anticipate morphing again. Getting back into the game isn't the issue I have, it's the timing of these attacks. You've been out of my life for almost ten years, and just when you come back, before we can really start again from where we left off, I have to lead the Red Rangers to face these guys that so far have beaten us every time they attack, and that're kidnapping our loved ones. Eventually, they'll come for you, and that's what worries me the most."

Kat sat up slowly, as to not get Tommy's fingers tangled in her blonde locks. "Well, you have an hour before more Red Rangers get here, so maybe we should do something to take your mind off things."

"Like what?" he asked, doubtful of whatever she might suggest.

Instead of replying, she got up and headed to her room. A moment later, she reemerged with her hands holding something behind her back, and with a smile on her face. Tommy craned his neck to see what she was hiding as she walked sideways over to his home theater system, but wasn't able to see what it was as she turned, keeping it out of his site. He saw her open up his DVD player and place a disk inside, then she moved back to his couch as she got the remote off his table, and turned on the television.

"A movie?" he asked. Now he felt certain that no movie would be able to distract him from the loom cast on him by Xiarayne.

"Not just a movie," she replied merrily. "Some of our home movies that I got burned onto a DVD."

The TV showed grainy footage of their former team in their youth, having a picnic on the soft lush grass of the park. Tommy recognized that day, shortly after Kimberly had left, as the camera, held by Billy Cranston, moved from one ranger to another. First it showed Aisha Campbell and Kat, who were sipping lemonade from glasses with a sweet look on their faces, then over to Adam Park, who smiled and gave a wave with his free hand, as the other held a half-eaten sandwich. A quick glimpse of a hand wearing a red-banded communicator was shown stealing chips off Adam's paper plate, and the camera quickly shifted over to Rocky, who grinned sheepishly at being caught.

The group of six had a laugh, then Adam turned on the boom box that sat on the grass, off the blanket. Pearl Jam played through the speakers, as the rangers began to move with the music.

"Hey Tommy, let your hair loose, man!" said Rocky as he started headbanging to the chorus.

The White Ranger at the time undid his then-long hair, and began to headbang as well as the others looked on in amusement. He and Rocky brought out the air guitars, joined by Aisha. They persuaded to have Adam do his best mime drumming, as Rocky began to mouth the lyrics.

"Welcome to the Power Rangers," Billy said as he moved the camera back to Kat, who smiled shyly, the only one besides him not partaking with being a band.

Tommy and Kat watched the home videos for close to an hour, the last one being of the time that Ernie threw a second luau after his first had been interrupted by Cogs. It had been one of their first dates during their Zeo Ranger days, and while their was no film of the ending of the date, it had concluded with Tommy driving Kat home, and the two sharing their first kiss together on her porch.

Both seemed to remember this at the same time, and looked at each other with reminiscent smiles before moving in for a passionate kiss. They seperated a minute later, with their breathing going hard, but then Tommy realized that it was nearly time to leave for the Mercer mansion. The couple stood up, and Tommy headed to his room for a quick second, reappearing with his Zeonizers in hands. Kat watched slightly nervously as he strapped the dual morpher pieces to his wrists, then he looked up at her with a reinvigorated grin and gleam in his eyes that told her he was ready for whatever Xiarayne could bring.

- XXX -

Tommy and Kat arrived at Trent's home shortly after departing, and where pleasantly surprised to find that Shane and Hunter had arrived earlier than expected. All of the other Red Rangers, as well as the Dino Rangers and Hayley, were there as well, gathered in the large living room.

The veteran ranger of many colors, as well as the de facto leader of the mission surveyed all of his teammates: Rocky, T.J., Andros, Carter, Wes, Eric, Cole, Shane, Hunter, and Conner. Most of their faces spelled grim anxiousness, especially those that had someone very close to them kidnapped by Xiarayne and Exerion.

"Okay, guys, I know this is a serious situation, but we have to remain positive. None of us have ever met an opponent that we couldn't beat, and with all of us here together, I'm sure that this won't be any different. We just have to remain positive, and find out who exactly Xiarayne is, where he is, and what he wants."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Andros asked. He hadn't meant to word the question as bitterly as he had, but he definitely wanted to be in the know with what Tommy might've planned. During the previous Red Ranger mission, he had served as second-in-command under him, and with talks between him and the other rangers the night before, it had been agreed upon that he would do so again; a position he would readily accept to help out in getting back those taken from them, especially his own wife.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure. The best thing we can do right now is wait for Xiarayne to make the next move. It's a scenario that puts us at his mercy, but it's the best option we have. I do, though, have a few ideas on what we can do in the meantime, to make sure everyone has their powers at the ready for combat.

"Conner, you and I'll go to Briarwood to see if Clare the Sorceress can help restore your powers. The Sentinal Knight's magic give Kira's back, and Clare might be able to do the same for yours. While we're there, we can ask the Mystic Rangers if they know anything about where their Red Ranger, Nick is, because I still haven't been able to get a hold of him."

Conner, who still hadn't fully snapped out of his funk over losing Krista, looked at him with an optimistic smile. One of his biggest concerns had been that he was without morphing powers to help the rest of the team, but now, it seemed that he was about to take that step closer to rescuing her.

"Shane and Hunter, ever since we teamed up to fight Mesogog and Lothor, Hayley and I have been looking into the technology of the Ninja Storm powers. After these few years, with research of the Morphing Grid, we believe that we've made decent temporary copies of your Wind and Thunder Power Discs."

Hunter and the worn Shane smiled as Hayley approached them with a small box. She opened them to reveal velvet cushioning supporting the Power Discs she had developed. She watched with a prideful smile as the two took them and inserted them into their morphers, and the smiles of the three grew when they gave off a quick red flash of light.

"Andros, I'd like you contact Leo on Mirinoi, and Aurico on Aquitar. I know it's not fair of us to drag Leo into this mess, but we could use his help. Afterwards, I'd like you to go to the Onyx and see if you can get any more information about Xiarayne there, like you suggested last night. If Leo agrees to help, I'd like for him to join you in the investigation, if that's not asking too much of him. Afterwards, call Aurico to see if he'd be able to help us out, too. The last time we spoke after the first Red Ranger mission, he said if something like that were to ever happen again, we shouldn't hesitate to call for his help."

Andros nodded solemnly. He figured that if there was anywhere they could find information on the evil forces they faced that couldn't be found on any records, it would be on the outlaw-ladden planet of Onyx, where some criminal would be bound to know something.

"Carter, I just contacted Mack Hartford, the Red Overdrive Ranger, in San Angeles, and I'd like for you to bring him here. I didn't leave him with much information, but he does know that he's being targeted by a secret villianous force, and that we're in need of his help. Tell him the same thing you told Cole when you recruited him: it's a very important mission, and unfortunately, we can't have the rest of his team come along."

"What do you want the rest of us to do?" Rocky asked with his hand slightly raised.

"Well, I didn't have an actual job for the rest of you guys, and I know that that's not comforting for you, since you want to do something, so I was thinking that maybe you guys could watch after Kat," Tommy answered, holding hands with her. "There's a good chance that Xiarayne and Exerion'll come after her, and with me leaving soon, I'd like for you to protect her in case that does happen. She'll be staying here with you guys while Conner and I are gone."

The rangers nodded, undertaking what was asked of them. "So, when do you want us to leave?" Carter asked.

"I think it'd be best if we got these things as soon as we can, so if that's okay with you guys, now?" said Tommy, looking between him and Andros.

"Of course," said the Kerovan as he, Carter, and Conner rose. They joined by Tommy's side, looking back at the other rangers present. They nodded and shared waves, but before they could start on their way to the door, knocking was heard.

The unexpected noise caused a quick pause amongst the rangers, until Trent got up and walked over. He opened the large double doors, and was very surprised to see who was behind them.

"Bridge?"

"Hey, Trent," Bridge Carson said cheerfully. The S.P.D. Red Ranger from the future was dressed in uniform, and stood between his teammates Z Delgado and Syd Drew.

"What're you doing here?" Trent asked, puzzled by his appearance. He had first met him when he and Kira served together on the temporary Retro Rangers team, but they had disbanded over two weeks ago, and Bridge had returned to his time of twenty years in the future.

"We've come to help the Red Rangers," he said, retaining his smile, along with the Yellow and Pink Rangers at his side. "Can we come inside?" Trent moved aside and allowed them in, where puzzled expressions from those unfamiliar with the group greeted them.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" T.J. asked of the three.

"Bridge Carson, S.P.D. This is Elizabeth Delgado, better known as just Z, and Sydney Drew, better known as Syd. It's an honor to meet you all," he said humbly, saluting his senior Red Rangers with his leather-gloved hand, then waving to Kira.

"Wait. S.P.D. still hasn't completed any morphers yet, so how is it that you guys are rangers?" Wes asked. His company, BioCorp, was one of the leading partners of Earth's developing S.P.D. branch, and was helping them out in creating their own morphers for their officers based off his and Eric's.

"We're from the future," said Bridge in the form of one of his rare simple answers.

"The future?" Cole asked in disbelief.

"Twenty years in the future, to be exact," Syd answered.

"Maybe you should explain," said Tommy, as even the legendary ranger didn't know much about the functions of time travel.

"No one explains things like Bridge. This is all you," Z said with a smirk.

"Well, It's a little complicated. If this were a story, a novel, the author would think it'd be a good place to end the current chapter, and start a new one," he said before beginning.


End file.
